Simulating the mechanism of magmatic processes in the Campi Flegrei area (Southern Italy) by the Lorenz equations

The up–down motion at Campi Flegrei may be due to the internal dynamics of the system and does not necessarily require a push, such as a new input of magma, from outside. The different eruptive phases which have occurred at Campi Flegrei might be related to deterministic chaotic magma flows, similar to those studied in simple experimental systems and theoretically well schematized by the so-called Lorenz equations. Here, different convective cells are hypothesized to operate at decreasing time and spatial scales; they are found to reasonably explain the volcanic history of Campi Flegrei starting from the Campanian Ignimbrite phase, through the Yellow Tuff, up to the Monte Nuovo event and the recent bradyseismic crises.