Neapolitan Volcanoes

This book serves as a guide to discovering the most interesting volcano sites in Italy. Accompanied by some extraordinary contemporary images of active Neapolitan volcanoes, it explains the main volcanic processes that have been shaping the landscape of the Campania region and influencing human settlements in this area since Greek and Roman times and that have prompted leading international scientists to visit and study this natural volcanology laboratory. While volcanology is the central topic, the book also addresses other aspects related to the area’s volcanism and is divided into three sections: 1) Neapolitan volcanic activity and processes (with a general introduction to volcanology and its development around Naples together with descriptions of the landscape and the main sites worth visiting); 2) Volcanoes and their interactions with local human settlements since the Bronze Age, recent population growth and the transformation of the territory; 3) The risks posed by Neapolitan Volcanoes, their recent activity and the problem of forecasting any future eruption.

This book describes famous geosites and historical localities in national parks and conservation areas from North America, East Africa, and Europe. The geosites include iconic landforms associated with active volcanoes, canyons, glaciated landscapes, natural rock monoliths, and rifts. The potential for geotourism in historical localities such as the famous Greco-Roman antiquities of Greece, Italy, and Turkey, is emphasised. Some of the geosites and historical localities provide evidence that previous civilizations coped with active geology and major climatic cycles, whilst others reveal evidence of famous geological events recognized in history and ancient mythology that helped shape our current civilization. The book assists tour guides and visitors (both geologists and non-specialists) interested in geotourism by providing an understanding of geological processes in the national parks and historical locations with the assistance of photographs and simplified geological maps.

Accompanying CD-ROM, entitled Supplementary materials to Stratigraphy and geology of volcanic areas, includes three geologic maps in Adobe Acrobat PDF files.

The first comprehensive assessment of global volcanic hazards and risk, with detailed regional profiles, for the disaster risk reduction community. Also available as Open Access.