Basaltic volcanoes are characterized by persistent periods of activity ranging from effusive lava flows to explosive eruptions with variable intensity (i.e., lava fountains to high-intensity, short-lasting paroxysmal events), each posing different types of potential threats to the local population. The eruptions can occur along fissures, at the summit, or on the flanks of a volcano, destabilizing the volcanic edifice and affecting different portions of the surroundings.

One of the biggest challenges in assessing volcanic hazards is our ability to forecast the timing, style, and intensity of the next eruption at any given active volcano. A critical and complex task is linking the sub-volcanic magma dynamics and timescales with the surficial observations such as volcanic gas fluxes, seismic activity, and ground deformation to enhance our capability to detect and interpret precursory signals.

Understanding the links between volcanic phenomena (e.g., type, intensity, and location of eruption), real-time monitoring data (i.e., gas fluxes, changes in lava or tephra chemistry, seismic signals, and ground deformation), and the processes that govern the plumbing system’s behaviour is crucial to progress in volcanic hazard assessment and mitigation. This Research Topic aims to bridge the gap between magmatic processes and their surficial manifestation (i.e., eruption type and style) by investigating pre-eruptive magma dynamics and petrologic processes in the plumbing system of a basaltic volcano and, where possible, linking them to data acquired on the surface, mostly by means of monitoring networks.

Fundamental open questions to address for enhancing our understanding of basaltic volcanic systems are:
• How reliable are real-time monitoring signals as precursory to an eruption or predictive of changes in the style or intensity of an eruption?
• How do these signals relate to the dynamics of magma transport, storage, and degassing?
• What are the timescales of these magmatic and eruptive processes?
• What is the relationship between magmatic processes and eruptive style (including major changes to a volcanic edifice, such as caldera formation)?

We welcome contributions that explore basaltic magmatic systems from different perspectives: volcanology, field mapping, petrology and geochemistry, geochronology, geophysics, gas fluxes, numerical modelling, and experimental petrology. Contributions that integrate two or more perspectives are particularly welcome.

The Topic Editors would like to acknowledge Dr. Boris Behncke from INGV, Etna Observatory, Italy for providing the cover image.

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Frontiers in Earth Science

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