Summarises the petrological, geochemical and volcanological characteristics of Italian Plio-Quaternary volcanism, and discusses petrogenetic hypotheses and possible geodynamics settings. Written for petrologists and geochemists, this book is accompanied by a CD-ROM containing a database of volcanic rock analyses.

Central-Southern Italy and the Tyrrhenian Sea are the sites of extensive Plio-Quaternary magmatic activity. The rock compositions include crustal anatectic granites and rhyolites, tholeiitic, calc-alkaline, shoshonitic volcanics, and potassic to ultrapotassic and Na-alkaline volcanics. This very wide compositional variation makes Italian magmatism one of the most complex petrological issues, the understanding of which is a challenge for modern petrology and geochemistry. This book summarises the petrological, geochemical and volcanological characteristics of Italian Plio-Quaternary volcanism, and discusses petrogenetic hypotheses and possible geodynamics settings. The book is written for petrologists and geochemists, but fundamental geochemical information is well presented and the use of excessive jargon is avoided, making the book readable to a wide audience of Earth scientists. The book is accompanied by a CD-ROM containing a database of volcanic rock analyses compiled in the last two to three decades.

Introduction.- The Tuscany Magmatic Province.- The Umbria-ultra-alkaline Province.- The Roman Province.- Roccamonafina Province.- The Campania Province and Mt. Vulture.- The Aeolian Arc.- Sicily Na-alkaline Province.- Tyrrhenian Sea and Sardinia.- Geodynamic Setting.