title: Reconstructing the plinian and co-ignimbrite sources of large volcanic eruptions: A novel approach for the Campanian Ignimbrite.
abstract: The 39 ka Campanian Ignimbrite (CI) super-eruption was the largest volcanic eruption of the past 200 ka in Europe. Tephra deposits indicate two distinct plume forming phases, Plinian and co-ignimbrite, characteristic of many caldera-forming eruptions. Previous numerical studies have characterized the eruption as a single-phase event, potentially leading to inaccurate assessment of eruption dynamics. To reconstruct the volume, intensity, and duration of the tephra dispersal, we applied a computational inversion method that explicitly accounts for the Plinian and co-ignimbrite phases and for gravitational spreading of the umbrella cloud. To verify the consistency of our results, we performed an additional single-phase inversion using an independent thickness dataset. Our better-fitting two-phase model suggests a higher mass eruption rate than previous studies, and estimates that 3/4 of the total fallout volume is co-ignimbrite in origin. Gravitational spreading of the umbrella cloud dominates tephra transport only within the first hundred kilometres due to strong stratospheric winds in our best-fit wind model. Finally, tephra fallout impacts would have interrupted the westward migration of modern hominid groups in Europe, possibly supporting the hypothesis of prolonged Neanderthal survival in South-Western Europe during the Middle to Upper Palaeolithic transition.
authors.affiliation: Barcelona Supercomputing Center (BSC-CNS), Barcelona, Spain.
authors.forename: Alejandro
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Marti
authors.affiliation: Barcelona Supercomputing Center (BSC-CNS), Barcelona, Spain.
authors.forename: Arnau
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Folch
authors.affiliation: Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia, Sezione di Bologna, Italy.
authors.forename: Antonio
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Costa
authors.affiliation: Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia, Sezione di Pisa, Italy.
authors.forename: Samantha
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Engwell
mesh_terms: D000465:Algorithms; D005060:Europe; D008962:Models, Theoretical; D018707:Volcanic Eruptions; D064878:Web Browser