14C age of the “Museum Breccia” (Campi Flegrei) and its relevance for the origin of the Campanian Ignimbrite

Abstract Field stratigraphic investigations and AMS 14 C dating of carbon particles in paleosols has resulted in a framework of the sequence and age of the pyroclastic products in the Campi Flegrei area of Southern Italy. The Museum Breccia cannot be the early phase of the Campanian Ignimbrite, as was previously believed, but is from a smaller and later eruption with an age of approximately 17,900 y B.P. This date also precludes its correlation with the Neapolitan Yellow Tuff (12,000 y B.P.)