Tephra dispersal during the Campanian Ignimbrite (Italy) eruption: implications for ultra-distal ash transport during the large caldera-forming eruption

Abstract

The Campanian Ignimbrite eruption dispersed ash over much of the central eastern Mediterranean Sea and eastern Europe. The eruption started with a Plinian phase that was followed by a series of pyroclastic density currents (PDCs) associated with the collapse of the Plinian column and the caldera. The glass compositions of the deposits span a wide geochemical range, but the Plinian fallout and PDCs associated with column collapse, the Lower Pumice Flow, only erupted the most evolved compositions. The later PDCs, the Breccia Museo and Upper Pumice Flow, erupted during and after caldera collapse, tap a less evolved component, and intermediate compositions that represent mixing between the end-members. The range of glass compositions in the Campanian Ignimbrite deposits from sites across the central and eastern Mediterranean Sea allow us to trace the dispersal of the different phases of this caldera-forming eruption. We map the fallout from the Plinian column and the plumes of fine material associated with the PDCs (co-PDCs) across the entire dispersal area. This cannot be done using the usual grain-size methods as deposits in these distal regions do not retain characteristics that allow attribution to either the Plinian or co-PDC phases. The glass compositions of the tephra at ultra-distal sites (>1500 km from the vent) match those of the uppermost PDC units, suggesting that most of the ultra-distal dispersal was associated with the late co-PDC plume that was generated during caldera collapse.