INTRODUCTION TO VOLCANOLOGY

Course objectives

Educational goals: the aim is to give the student the basic knowledge about the volcanic processes and the main tools for work with success on volcanic terrain. Learning ouctomes: he students who have passed the examination will know the main features of structures and of volcanic rocks and will have the basic concepts to understand the eruptive processes. The students who have passed the examination will be able to classify the volcanic rocks and discriminate through analysis of the different styles facies eruptive that have generated. They also will have a particular experience on volcanic rocks emerging in the city of Rome.

Channel 1
MARIO GAETA Lecturers' profile

Program - Frequency - Exams

Course program
Definition of volcanoes. Distribution of volcanoes and relationships with geodynamics. Structure, density and viscosity of silicate melts. Classification, origin and differentiation of magmas. Solubility of the volatiles in magma. Magmatic fragmentation. Eruptive styles. Classification and parameterisation of explosive volcanic eruptions. Lava flows: morphology, classification, parameters that control the length. Volcanic structures and morphologies. Characteristics of volcanic deposits. Lahars. Definition of active volcano and volcanic risk. Elements of regional volcanology: the Colli Albani and the Monti Sabatini volcanic districts, Campi Flegrei and Somma-Vesuvius.
Prerequisites
Basic knowledge of chemistry, mineralogy, petrography and geology
Books
- Vulcanologia (1998) - Roberto Scandone e Lisetta Giacomelli . Liguori Editore, Napoli, pp. 642 - R.A.F. Cas and J.V. Wright (1988) Volcanic Successions. Unwin Hyman, London, pp. 528 - Tutto Vulcani- Luca Lupi - Mauro Rosi - Paolo Papale - Marco C. Stoppato pubblicato da Mondadori - Volcanoes and the Environment (2005)- edited by Joan Martì and Gerald G. J. Ernst- Cambridge University Press, pp. 469 - Vulcani nel mondo. Viaggio visuale tra rischi e risorse (2019)- Lisetta Giacomelli, Cristiano Pesaresi-Franco angeli editore - Vulcani e eruzioni - Giacomelli e Scandone. Pitagora editore
Teaching mode
Lectures in the classroom + field trips
Frequency
4h for week + 2/3 daily field trip
Exam mode
30 open questions
Bibliography
Volcanoes: From Mantle to Surface. 2017 Elements Volume 13, Number 1.
Lesson mode
Lectures in the classroom + field trips
  • Lesson code1022611
  • Academic year2025/2026
  • CourseGeological Sciences
  • CurriculumSingle curriculum
  • Year3rd year
  • Semester2nd semester
  • SSDGEO/08
  • CFU6