Earthquake-triggered volcanic activity promoted by dynamic and static stresses are considered rare and difficult-to-capture geological processes. Calderas are ideal natural laboratories to investigate earthquake–volcano interactions due to their sensitivity to incoming seismic energy. The Campi Flegrei caldera, Italy, is one of the most monitored volcanic systems worldwide. We compare ground elevation time series at Campi Flegrei with earthquake catalogues showing that uplift events at Campi Flegrei are associated with large regional earthquakes. Such association is supported by (yet non-definitive) binomial tests. Over a 70-year time window we identify 14 uplift events, 12 of them were preceded by an earthquake, and for 8 of them the earthquake-to-uplift timespan ranges from immediate responses to 1.2 yr. Such variability in the response delay may be due to the preparedness of the system with faster responses probably occurring in periods during which the Campi Flegrei system was already in a critical state. To investigate the process that may be responsible for the proposed association we simulate the propagation of elastic waves and show that passing body waves impose high dynamic strains at the roof of the magmatic reservoir of the Campi Flegrei at about 7 km depth. This may promote a short-lived embrittlement of the magma reservoir's carapace otherwise marked by a ductile behaviour. Such failure allows magma and exsolved volatiles to be released from the magmatic reservoir. The fluids, namely exsolved volatiles and/or melts, ascend through a nominally plastic zone above the magmatic reservoir. This mechanism and the associated inherent uncertainties require further investigations but the new concept already implies that geological processes triggered by passing seismic waves may become apparent several months after passage of the seismic waves.

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Thermohaline convection of subsurface fluids strongly influences heat and mass fluxes within the Earth's crust. The most effective hydrothermal systems develop in the vicinity of magmatic activity and can be important for geothermal energy production and ore formation. As most parts of these systems are inaccessible to direct observations, numerical simulations are necessary to understand and characterize fluid flow. Here, we present a new numerical scheme for thermohaline convection based on the control volume finite element method (CVFEM), allowing for unstructured meshes, the representation of sharp thermal and solute fronts in advection-dominated systems and phase separation of variably miscible, compressible fluids. The model is an implementation of the Complex Systems Modelling Platform CSMP++ and includes an accurate thermodynamic representation of strongly nonlinear fluid properties of salt water for magmatic-hydrothermal conditions (up to 1000°C, 500 MPa and 100 wt% NaCl). The method ensures that all fluid properties are taken as calculated on the respective node using a fully upstream-weighted approach, which greatly increases the stability of the numerical scheme. We compare results from our model with two well-established codes, HYDROTHERM and TOUGH2, by conducting benchmarks of different complexity and find good to excellent agreement in the temporal and spatial evolution of the hydrothermal systems. In a simulation with high-temperature, high-salinity conditions currently outside of the range of both HYDROTHERM and TOUGH2, we show the significance of the formation of a solid halite phase, which introduces heterogeneity. Results suggest that salt added by magmatic degassing is not easily vented or accommodated within the crust and can result in dynamic, complex hydrologies. We present a new numerical scheme for multiphase convection of salt water at magmatic-hydrothermal conditions based on the control volume finite element method. In a series of benchmarks with HYDROTHERM and TOUGH2, we find very good agreement of the simulated hydrothermal systems. Simulations at high-temperature, high-salinity conditions outside of the range of these models show the influence of solid halite on dynamic flow behavior and suggest that salt from magmatic degassing is not easily vented or accommodated within the crust.@en