Simultaneous normal and reverse faulting in reactivating caldera faults: A detailed field structural analysis from Campi Flegrei (southern Italy)

Abstract

Models of volcanic collapses proposed in the literature rely on combining field examples with analogue and numerical modelling to connect superficial observables to sub-surface volcano-tectonic processes. However, the behaviour of such collapses in an already faulted and fractured medium needs to be better explored.We studied a complex array of normal and reverse faults within the central sector of the active Campi Flegrei caldera, where faults with centimeters-to-meters displacements are hosted in the La Pietra tuff (∼13.5 ka) and the overlying pyroclastic succession of the last ∼5.5 kyr. We analyzed the attitude, kinematics and throw of these structures, employing a UAV-based digital outcrop model. The analysis shows that antithetic normal and reverse faults form in the hanging wall of a pre-existing WNW striking, NNE-dipping master normal fault. Moving northward, the strike of the antithetic faults rotates from WNW to NNW directions, with the latter showing a right-lateral oblique component. The simultaneity and coherence of both kinematics and attitudes are verified by the throw analysis. We associated the formation of this array with the caldera-collapse phase of the Agnano-Monte Spina eruption (∼4.55 ka), which caused off-caldera faulting beyond the main collapsed area.Based on field data, we suggest that during peak caldera-forming phases, wider areas beyond the main caldera scarps can be involved in volcano-tectonic collapses in the presence of a pre-existing fault network and complex tapped reservoirs. This highlights the role of inherited structures in weakening the crust above the magma reservoir that can potentially increase the magnitude and duration of caldera-forming eruptions, as they may induce a broader roof rock subsidence, pressurizing wider regions of the sub-caldera magma system.