Numerical study of conductive heat losses from a magmatic source at Phlegraean Fields

Abstract

The thermal evolution of the Phlegraean magmatic system (southern Italy) is studied by analyzing the influence of the thermal property variations on the solution of the heat conduction equation. The aim of this paper is to verify if appropriate choices of thermal parameters can reproduce, at least to greater depths, the high temperatures measured in the geothermal wells, drilled inside the caldera, under the assumption of heat loss from a magma chamber by conduction. Since the main purpose is to verify the plausibility of such an assumption, rather simple models of the magmatic system are adopted and only major volcanic events (i.e., the Campanian Ignimbrite and the Neapolitan Yellow Tuff eruptions) are considered. The results of the simulated two-dimensional model scenarios show that by assuming an extended source region, whose emplacement time is longer than 40ka, heat conduction mechanisms can provide temperatures as high as those measured at depths deeper than about 2000m. On the other hand, the 1D simulations show that appropriate choices for the thermal conductivity depth profiles can reproduce the observed temperatures at depths deeper than about 1000m. These findings question the apparent consensus that convection is the only dominant form of heat transfer at Phlegraean Fields and might motivate new research for reconstructing the thermal evolution of the Phlegraean magmatic system.