Urban Supervolcano Investigated
|
Naples, on the other hand, is built in what the Romans thought of as the Gates of Hades. Although it hasn't erupted in 39,000 years, "A major eruption, like the one 39,000 years ago, would leave large parts of Europe buried under a thick layer of ash," as well as obliterating the entire 1 million population of Naples.
A program has been started to drill seven holes up to 4 km into the caldera to find out more.
New Scientist Will we see the next disaster coming? That's one of the questions an ambitious drilling project hopes to answer by sinking boreholes into Campi Flegrei, as the giant collapsed volcanic crater is now called. Starting as early as next month, the Campi Flegrei Deep Drilling Project is planning to drill seven holes in the region (see map).
Though the researchers on this particular project point out that any risk is small, it will begin amid debate about whether such endeavours are safe, given the unknowns of a volcano's interior. A few say drilling might even trigger a major eruption.
Though the caldera has no visible volcanic cone, it dwarfs nearby Vesuvius. "Most of the metropolitan area of Naples is located within the caldera," says Giuseppe De Natale of the National Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology's (INGV) Vesuvius Observatory in Naples, who is leading the project.
