Geological data in volcanology: Collection, organisation and applications

This special issue aims to highlight and strengthen the role of geology in modern volcanology, which has grown turbulently in recent years, especially in the field of numerical modelling. Indeed, volcanology is today a modern, inter- and multi-disciplinary science, which qualitatively and quantitatively describe long and short term volcanic processes, their hazards and impacts on society and the environment. At the same time, the rapid increase of mathematical and computational modelling tools has reduced the perceived value of geology, despite it remains the unavoidable witness of past volcanic processes, and against which any model and theory has to face with. To promote the importance of volcano geology a commission of IAVCEI was recently (2015) established, and named IAVCEI Commission on Volcano Geology (VGC). The VCG supports the organisation of workshops, field trips, and scientific sessions at the major international conferences, promotes widely applicable guidelines for field geological mapping, as well as stimulates discussions and exchange of information among researchers on topics related to field data collection and organisation in volcanology. For these reasons this issue is under the aegis of the VGC.