Alberto Caracciolo

I am a postdoctoral researcher in geochemistry and petrology at the Department of Physics and Geology, University of Perugia.

I obtained my PhD in 2021 from the University of Iceland and continued there as a postdoc until 2024, working extensively on the 2021–ongoing eruptions of the Reykjanes Peninsula.

My research focuses on understanding magma plumbing systems and magmatic processes by studying the crystal cargo, erupted melts, and associated timescales. By integrating petrology, geochemistry, and diffusion chronometry, I aim to reconstruct the storage, transport, and eruption dynamics of magmas at active volcanoes. I am currently working on La Palma Island, reconstructing the plumbing architecture over historical time to unravel how magmatic systems evolve and drive volcanic activity.

Publication list:

• Di Fiore, F., Vona, A., Di Genova, D., Caracciolo, A., Pontesilli, A., Calabrò, L., Giuliani,
  G., Mollo, S., Bondar, D., Nazzari, M., Romano, C., & Scarlato, P. (2025). Impact
  of cooling rate on rheology and emplacement dynamics of basaltic lavas: Insights
  from the January 2024 Sundhnúksgígar eruption (Iceland). Journal of
  Volcanology and Geothermal Research, 466, 108400.
  https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jvolgeores.2025.108400
• Caracciolo, A., Marshall, E. W., Mutch, E. J. F., Bali, E., Halldórsson, S. A., Matthews,
  S., Sigmarsson, O., Maclennan, J., Merrill, H., Gisladóttir, B. Y., Johnson, S.,
  Kahl, M., Guðfinnsson, G. H., Robin, J. G., & Rúnarsdóttir, R. H. (2025). Mush
  disaggregation and dike propagation timescales at active volcanoes – Evidence
  from the 2022–2023 Fagradalsfjall eruptions. Journal of Petrology, egaf054.
  https://doi.org/10.1093/petrology/egaf054
• Löw, N., Halldórsson, S. A., Beier, C., Bali, E., Matthews, S., Guðfinnsson, G. H.,
  Marshall, E. W., Helgason, J., Ranta, E., Abersteiner, A., Barnes, J. D., &
  Caracciolo, A. (2025). Magma storage and transport beneath the near-rift
  Fjallgarðar Volcanic Ridge, Northeast Iceland. Contributions to Mineralogy and
  Petrology, 180(3). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00410-025-02212-w
• Marshall, E. W., Caracciolo, A., Bali, E., Halldórsson, S. A., Matthews, S., Ranta, E.,
  Rasmussen, M. B., Robin, J. G., Guðfinnson, G. H., Maclennan, J., Bosq, C.,
  Auclair, D., Sigmarsson, O., Merrill, H., Gisladóttir, B., Johnson, S., Löw, N.,
  Stracke, A., & Genske, F. (2024). The petrology and geochemistry of the 2021
  Fagradalsfjall eruption, Iceland: An eruption sourced from multiple,
  compositionally diverse, near-Moho sills. AGU Advances, 5, e2024AV001310.
  https://doi.org/10.1029/2024AV001310
• Matthews, S. W., Caracciolo, A., Bali, E., Halldórsson, S. A., Sigmarsson, O.,
  Guðfinnsson, G. H., Pedersen, G. B. M., Robin, J. G., Marshall, E. W., Aden, A.
  A., Gisladóttir, B. Ý., Bosq, C., Auclair, D., Merrill, H., Levillayer, N., Löw, N.,
• Rúnarsdóttir, R. H., Johnson, S. M., Steinþórsson, S., & Drouin, V. (2024). A
  dynamic mid-crustal magma domain revealed by the 2023 to 2024
  Sundhnúksgígar eruptions in Iceland. Science, 386(6719), 309–314.
  https://doi.org/10.1126/science.adp8778
• Caracciolo, A., Bali, E., Ranta, E., Halldórsson, S. A., & Guðfinnsson, G. H. (2024).
  Medieval and recent SO₂ budgets in the Reykjanes Peninsula: Implications for
  future hazard. Geochemical Perspectives Letters, 30, 20–27.
  https://doi.org/10.7185/geochemlet.2417
• Ranta, E., Halldórsson, S. A., Óladóttir, B. A., Pfeffer, M. A., Caracciolo, A., Bali, E.,
  Guðfinnsson, G. H., Kahl, M., & Barsotti, S. (2024). Magmatic controls of volcanic
  sulfur emissions at the Icelandic hotspot. Geochemistry, Geophysics,
  Geosystems, 25(5). https://doi.org/10.1029/2024GC011443
• Stow, M. A., Prytulak, J., Burton, K. W., Nowell, G. M., Marshall, E. W., Halldórsson, S.
  A., Matthews, S., Rasmussen, M. B., Ranta, E., & Caracciolo, A. (2023). No
  V–Fe–Zn isotopic variation in basalts from the 2021 Fagradalsfjall eruption.
  Geochemical Perspectives Letters, 27, 54–58.
  https://doi.org/10.7185/geochemlet.2335
• Caracciolo, A., Bali, E., Halldórsson, S. A., Guðfinnsson, G. H., Kahl, M., Þórðardóttir,
  I., Pálmadóttir, G. L., & Silvestri, V. (2023). Magma plumbing architectures and
  timescales of magmatic processes during historical magmatism on the Reykjanes
  Peninsula, Iceland. Earth and Planetary Science Letters, 621, 118378.
  https://doi.org/10.1016/j.epsl.2023.118378
• Kahl, M., Mutch, E. J. F., Maclennan, J., Morgan, D. J., Couperthwaite, F., Bali, E.,
  Thordarsson, Þ., Guðfinnsson, G. H., Walshaw, R., Buisman, I., Buhre, S., van
  den Meer, Q. H. A., Caracciolo, A., Marshall, E. W., Rasmussen, M. B.,
  Gallagher, C. R., Moreland, W. M., Höskuldsson, Á., & Askew, R. A. (2023). Deep
  magma mobilization years before the 2021 Fagradalsfjall eruption, Iceland.
  Geology. https://doi.org/10.1130/G50340.1
• Halldórsson, S. A., Marshall, E. W., Caracciolo, A., Matthews, S., Bali, E., Rasmussen,
  M. B., Ranta, E., Robin, J. G., Guðfinnsson, G. H., Sigmarsson, O., Maclennan,
  J., Jackson, M. G., Whitehouse, M. J., Jeon, H., van der Meer, Q. H. A., Mibei, G.
  K., Kalliokoski, M. H., Repczynska, M. M., Rúnarsdóttir, R. H., Sigurðsson, G.,
  Pfeffer, M. A., Scott, S. W., Kjartansdóttir, R., Kleine, B. I., Oppenheimer, C.,
  Aiuppa, A., Ilyinskaya, E., Bitetto, M., Giudice, G., & Stefánsson, A. (2022). Rapid
  source shifting of a deep magmatic system revealed by the Fagradalsfjall
  eruption, Iceland. Nature, 609, 536–540. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-022-
  04981-x
• Caracciolo, A., Halldórsson, S. A., Bali, E., Marshall, E. W., Jeon, H., Whitehouse, M.
  J., Barnes, J. D., Guðfinnsson, G. H., Kahl, M., & Hartley, M. E. (2022). Oxygen
  isotope evidence for progressively assimilating trans-crustal magma plumbing
  systems in Iceland. Geology, 50, 796–800. https://doi.org/10.1130/G49874.1
• Marshall, E. W., Ranta, E., Halldórsson, S. A., Caracciolo, A., Bali, E., Jeon, H.,
  Whitehouse, M. J., Barnes, J., & Stefánsson, A. (2022). Boron isotope evidence
  for devolatilized and rehydrated recycled materials in the Icelandic mantle source.
  Earth and Planetary Science Letters, 577, 117229.
  https://doi.org/10.1016/j.epsl.2021.117229
• Caracciolo, A., Kahl, M., Bali, E., Guðfinnsson, G. H., Halldórsson, S. A., & Hartley, M.
  E. (2021). Timescales of crystal mush mobilization in the Bárðarbunga-Veiðivötn
  volcanic system based on olivine diffusion chronometry. American Mineralogist,
  106(7), 1083–1096. https://doi.org/10.2138/am-2021-7670
  Caracciolo, A., Gurioli, L., Marianelli, P., Bernard, J., & Harris, A. (2021). Textural and
  chemical features of a “soft” plug emitted during strombolian explosions: A case
  study from Stromboli volcano. Earth and Planetary Science Letters, 559, 116761.
  https://doi.org/10.1016/j.epsl.2021.116761