| Revision as of 15:24, 4 December 2007 view sourceEtacar11 (talk | contribs)Extended confirmed users, Rollbackers13,355 edits rvv Undid revision 175714386 by 76.74.65.2 (talk)← Previous edit | Revision as of 17:06, 4 December 2007 view source 207.28.74.1 (talk)No edit summaryNext edit → | ||
| Line 1: | Line 1: | ||
| blahblahblahbah hehehehehe retards!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! | |||
| {{this|the mountain in Italy|Vesuvius (disambiguation)}} | |||
| {{Infobox Mountain | |||
| | Name=<center>Mount Vesuvius</center> | |||
| | Photo=Vesuvius_from_Pompeii.jpg | |||
| | Caption=<small>Mt. Vesuvius as seen from the ruins of ], which was destroyed in the eruption of AD ]. The active cone is the high peak on the left side; the smaller one on the right is part of the Somma caldera wall.</small> | |||
| | Elevation= {{convert|1281|m|ft|0}} | |||
| | Location=] | |||
| | Prominence = | |||
| | Coordinates = {{coord|40|49|N|14|26|E|type:mountain_region:IT}} | |||
| | Topographic map = | |||
| | Type=] | |||
| | Volcanic_Arc/Belt=] | |||
| | Age=25,000 yr before present to 1944 | |||
| | Last eruption=1944 | |||
| | First ascent= | |||
| | Easiest route=walk}} | |||
| '''Mount Vesuvius''' (]: ''Monte Vesuvio'', ]: ''Mons Vesuvius'') is a ] east of ], ]. It is the only volcano on the ]an mainland to have erupted within the last hundred years, although it is not currently erupting. The only other two such ] (] and ]) are located on islands. | |||
| Vesuvius is on the coast of the ], about nine kilometres (six miles) east of ] and a short distance from the shore. It is conspicuous in the beautiful landscape presented by the Bay of Naples, when seen from the sea, with Naples in the foreground. Vesuvius is best known for its eruption in AD 79 that led to the destruction of the ] cities of ] and ]. It has erupted many times since and is today regarded as one of the most dangerous volcanoes in the world because of the population of 3,000,000 people now living close to it and its tendency towards explosive eruptions. | |||
| Mount Vesuvius was regarded by the ] and Romans as being sacred to the hero and demigod ]/], and the town of Herculaneum, built at its base, was named after him. | |||
| == Origin of the name == | |||
| Some of the theories about the origin of the name Vesuvius include:{{Fact|date=August 2007}} | |||
| * Hercules was son of the god ] and ] of ]. Zeus was also known as ''Huēs'' ({{polytonic|Ὓης}}) in his aspect as the god of rains and dews. ] was thus alternatively known as ''Huēsou huios'' ({{polytonic|Ὓησου υἱός}}), "Son of Hues." Transliterating the "ου" as "V" (as is normally done), and the other ]s (with ]) also by V (rather than the usual "HY") and changing to the Latin nominative ending "us", gives V<small>ESVVIVS</small> — ''Vesuvius''. | |||
| * From the ] word ''festf'' which means "smoke". | |||
| * From the ] ] ''ves-'' = "]" | |||
| == Physical appearance == | |||
| ] wall of Vesuvius, with ] in the background]] | |||
| Vesuvius is a distinctive "humpbacked" mountain, consisting of a large ] (''Gran Cono'') partially encircled by the steep rim of a summit ] caused by the collapse of an earlier, and originally much higher<ref name="OS storia"> | |||
| {{ cite web | url = http://www.ov.ingv.it/inglese/vesuvio/storia/storia.htm | title = Summary of the eruptive history of Mt. Vesuvius | work = Osservatorio Vesuviano, Italian National Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology | accessdate= 2006-12-08}} </ref> | |||
| structure called Monte Somma. The Gran Cono was produced during the eruption of 79. For this reason, the volcano is also called '''Somma-Vesuvius''' or '''Somma-Vesuvio'''. | |||
| The caldera started forming during an eruption around 17,000 (or 18,300<ref name="OS Pomici di Base">{{ cite web | url = http://www.ov.ingv.it/inglese/vesuvio/storia/pomici_base.htm | title = The Pomici Di Base Eruption | work = Osservatorio Vesuviano, Italian National Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology | accessdate= 2006-12-08 }}</ref>) years ago <ref>, Volcano World</ref> <ref>, Scentia</ref> and was enlarged by later paroxysmal eruptions<ref name="global volcanism">{{ cite web | url = http://www.volcano.si.edu/world/volcano.cfm?vnum=0101-02= | title = Vesuvius | work = Global Volcanism | accessdate= 2006-12-08}}</ref> ending in the one of 79. This structure has given its name to the term "]", which describes any volcano with a summit caldera surrounding a newer cone.<ref>{{ cite web | url= http://www.volcanolive.com/somma.html | title = Definition of somma volcano |work= Volcano Live | accessdate= 2006-12-11 }}</ref> | |||
| The height of the main cone has been constantly changed by eruptions but presently is 1,281 m (4,202 ft). Monte Somma is 1,149 m (3,770 ft) high, separated from the main cone by the valley of Atrio di Cavallo, which is some 3 miles (5 km) long. The slopes of the mountain are scarred by lava flows but are heavily vegetated, with scrub at higher altitudes and ]s lower down. Vesuvius is still regarded as an active volcano, although its current activity produces little more than steam from vents at the bottom of the crater. Vesuvius is a ] at the ] where the ] is being ] beneath the ]. Its ] is composed of viscous ]. Layers of lava, ], ], and ] make up the mountain. | |||
| == Formation == | |||
| ]]] | |||
| Vesuvius was formed as a result of the collision of two ]s, the ] and the ]. The former was pushed beneath the latter, deeper into the earth. The crust material became heated until it melted, forming ], a type of liquid rock. Because magma is less dense than the solid rock around it, it was pushed upward. Finding a weak place at the Earth's surface it broke through, producing the volcano. | |||
| The volcano is one of several which form the ]. Others include ], a large ] a few kilometres to the north west, ] 20 kilometers to the west on the island of ], and several undersea volcanoes to the south. The arc forms the southern end of a larger chain of volcanoes produced by the ] process described above, which extends northwest along the length of Italy as far as ] in Southern ]. Vesuvius is the only one to have erupted within recent history, although some of the others have erupted within the last few hundred years. Many are either extinct or have not erupted for tens of thousands of years. | |||
| == Eruptions == | |||
| ] | |||
| Vesuvius has erupted many times. The famous eruption in 79 was preceded by numerous others in prehistory, including at least 3 significantly larger ones, the best known being the ] around 1800 BC which engulfed several Bronze Age settlements. Since 79, the volcano has also erupted repeatedly, in ], ], ], possibly ], ], ], ], ], ], ], around ], around ], ], ], ], ], ], ], around ], ], ], and there may have been eruptions in ], ], and ].<ref name="global volcanism">{{ cite web | url = http://www.volcano.si.edu/world/volcano.cfm?vnum=0101-02= | title = Vesuvius | work = Global Volcanism | accessdate= 2006-12-08}}</ref> | |||
| The volcano erupted again in ], six times in the ], eight times in the ] (notably in ]), and in ], ], and ]. There has been no eruption since 1944, and none of the post-79 eruptions were as large or destructive. | |||
| The eruptions vary greatly in severity but are characterized by explosive outbursts of the kind dubbed ] after ], the Roman naturalist who observed the 79 eruption, to which his uncle ] possibly fell victim. On occasion, the eruptions have been so large that the whole of southern Europe has been blanketed by ash; in 472 and 1631, Vesuvian ash fell on ] (]), over 1,200 km away. A few times since 1944, landslides in the crater raised clouds of ash dust, which caused false alarms of an eruption. | |||
| === Before 79 === | |||
| The mountain started forming 25,000 years ago. Although the area has been subject to volcanic activity for at least 400,000 years, the lowest layer of eruption material from the Somma mountain lies on top of the 34,000 year-old ]n ] produced by the ] complex, and was the product of the ] ] eruption 25,000 years ago.<ref>{{cite journal | url= http://www.geotimes.org/apr05/NN_Vesuvius.html | title = Vesuvius’ next eruption | journal = Geotimes | date = April 2005 | accessdate = 2006-12-08}}</ref> | |||
| It was then built up by a series of lava flows, with some smaller explosive eruptions interspersed between them. However, the style of eruption changed around 19,000 years ago to a sequence of large explosive plinian eruptions, of which the 79 one was the last. The eruptions are named after the tephra deposits produced by them:<ref name="OS storia">{{ cite web | url = http://www.ov.ingv.it/inglese/vesuvio/storia/storia.htm | title = Summary of the eruptive history of Mt. Vesuvius | work = Osservatorio Vesuviano, Italian National Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology | accessdate= 2006-12-08}} </ref><ref name="Uni Rome Somma-Vesuvius">{{ cite web | url = http://vulcan.fis.uniroma3.it/vesuvio/vesuviustext.html | title= Somma-Vesuvius | work = Department of Physics, University of Rome | accessdate = 2006-12-08}}</ref> | |||
| * The Basal Pumice (Pomici di Base) eruption, 18,300 years ago, ] 6, was probably the most violent of these eruptions and saw the original formation of the Somma caldera. The eruption was followed by a period of much less violent, lava producing eruptions. | |||
| * The Green Pumice (Pomici Verdoline) eruption, 16,000 years ago, VEI 5. | |||
| * The ] (also known as Pomici Gemelle or Ottaviano), 8,000 years ago, VEI 6, followed a smaller explosive eruption around 11,000 years ago (called the Lagno Amendolare eruption). | |||
| * The ] (Pomici di Avellino), 1660 BC ± 43 years, VEI 6, followed two smaller explosive eruptions around 5,000 years ago. The Avellino eruption vent was apparently 2 km west of the current crater, and the eruption destroyed several ] settlements. The remarkably well-preserved remains of one were discovered in May ] near ] by Italian archaeologists, with huts, pots, livestock and even the ]s of animals and people, as well as skeletons. The residents had hastily abandoned the village, leaving it to be buried under ] and ash in much the same way that Pompeii was later preserved.<ref> | |||
| {{ cite web | url = http://www.meridies-nola.org/nola/villaggiopreistoricoing.htm | title = An ancient Bronze Age village (3500 bp) destroyed by the pumice eruption in Avellino (Nola-Campania) | accessdate = 2006-12-08}}</ref><ref> | |||
| {{ cite web | url = http://www.buffalo.edu/news/fast-execute.cgi/article-page.html?article=78030009 | title = Vesuvius' Next Eruption May Put Metro Naples at Risk - Lesson from Katrina is need to focus on "maximum probable hazard" |work= State University of New York | accessdate = 2006-12-08 }}</ref> The eruption was larger than the ones of 79 (VEI 5) and 1631 (VEI 4) with ] deposits distributed to the northwest of the vent, the surges travelling as far as 15 km from it, and lie up to 3 m deep in the area now occupied by Naples.<ref> | |||
| {{ cite web | url = http://www.ov.ingv.it/inglese/vesuvio/storia/avellino.htm | title = Pomici di Avellino eruption | work = Osservatorio Vesuviano, Italian National Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology | accessdate= 2006-12-08}}</ref> | |||
| The volcano then entered a stage of more frequent, but less violent, eruptions until the most recent plinian eruption which destroyed Pompeii. | |||
| The last of these may have been in ].<ref name="global volcanism">{{ cite web | url = http://www.volcano.si.edu/world/volcano.cfm?vnum=0101-02= | title = Vesuvius | work = Global Volcanism | accessdate= 2006-12-08}}</ref> There were earthquakes in Italy during that year and the sun was reported as being dimmed by a haze or dry fog. ] wrote of the sky being on fire near Naples and ] mentioned in his epic poem '']'' <ref>{{cite journal | author = Stothers, R.B. | year = 2002 | title = The case for an eruption of Vesuvius in 217 BC (abstract) | journal = Ancient Hist. Bull. | volume = 16 | pages = 182-185 }}</ref> that Vesuvius had thundered and produced flames worthy of ] in that year, although both authors were writing around 250 years later. ] ] samples of around that period show relatively high acidity, which is assumed to have been caused by atmospheric ].<ref name="Volcanoes in Human History">{{cite book | title=Volcanoes in Human History | publisher=Princeton University Press | year=2002 | author=de Boer, Jelle Zeilinga & Sanders, Donald Theodore| id=ISBN 0-691-05081-3}}</ref> | |||
| The mountain was then quiet for hundreds of years and was described by ] writers as having been covered with ]s and ]s, except at the top which was craggy. Within a large circle of nearly perpendicular cliffs was a flat space large enough for the encampment of the army of the rebel gladiator ] in ]. This area was doubtless a ]. The mountain may have had only one summit at that time, judging by a wall painting, "Bacchus and Vesuvius", found in a Pompeiian house, the House of the Centenary (''Casa del Centenario''). | |||
| Several surviving works written over the 200 years preceding the 79 eruption describe the mountain as having had a volcanic nature, although Pliny the Elder did not depict the mountain in this way in his '']''<ref> (translation)</ref>: | |||
| * The ] historian ] (ca ]-]) described the mountain in Book V, Chapter 4 of his '']''<ref> (translation)</ref> as having a predominantly flat, barren summit covered with sooty, ash-coloured rocks and suggested that it might once have had "craters of fire". He also perceptively suggested that the fertility of the surrounding slopes may be due to volcanic activity, as at ]. | |||
| * In Book II of '']'',<ref> (translation)</ref> the ] ] (ca 80-70 BC -?) reported that fires had once existed abundantly below the mountain and that it had spouted fire onto the surrounding fields. He went on to describe Pompeiian ] as having been burnt from another species of stone. | |||
| * ] (ca ] — ca ]), another Greek ], wrote in Book IV of his ''Bibliotheca Historica'' that the Campanian plain was called fiery (''Phlegrean'') because of the mountain, Vesuvius, which had spouted flame like Etna and showed signs of the fire that had burnt in ancient history.<ref name="Uni Rome Somma-Vesuvius">{{ cite web | url = http://vulcan.fis.uniroma3.it/vesuvio/vesuviustext.html | title= Somma-Vesuvius | work = Department of Physics, University of Rome | accessdate = 2006-12-08}}</ref> | |||
| By 79 the area was, as now, densely populated with villages, towns and small cities like Pompeii, and its slopes were covered in vineyards and farms. | |||
| === Eruption of 79 === | |||
| ] of the eruption of Vesuvius in BBC/Discovery Channel's co-production '']''.]] | |||
| By the ], ] was only one of a number of towns located around the base of Mount Vesuvius. The area had a substantial population which grew prosperous from the region's renowned agricultural fertility. Many of Pompeii's neighboring communities, most famously ], also suffered damage or destruction during the 79 eruption, which is thought to have lasted about 19 hours, in which time the volcano released about 1 cubic mile (4 cubic kilometres) of ash and rock over a wide area to the south and south-east of the crater, with about 3 m (10 ft) of ] falling on Pompeii. The white ash produced by this eruption is mainly of ] and ]. | |||
| ==== Foreshocks ==== | |||
| ] (1826)]] | |||
| The ] eruption was preceded by a powerful ] | |||
| seventeen years beforehand on ], ]<ref></ref>, which caused widespread destruction around the Bay of Naples, and particularly to Pompeii. Some of the damage had still not been repaired when the volcano erupted. <ref name=VisitingPompeii /> However, this may have been a ] event rather than one associated with the re-awakening of the volcano.<ref>{{cite news| title=Three Decades of Seismic Activity at Mt. Vesuvius: 1972–2000}}</ref> | |||
| Another smaller earthquake took place in ]; it was recorded by ] in his biography of ]<ref>, Suetonius, The Lives of the Caesars</ref>, in ''De Vita Caesarum'', and by ] in Book XV of '']''<ref></ref> because it took place whilst Nero was in Naples performing for the first time in a public ]. Suetonius recorded that the emperor continued singing through the earthquake until he had finished his song, whilst Tacitus wrote that the theatre collapsed shortly after being evacuated. | |||
| The Romans grew used to minor earth tremors in the region; the ] ] writing that they "were not particularly alarming because they are frequent in Campania". In early August of 79, springs and wells dried up <ref></ref>. Small earthquakes started taking place on ], 79 <ref name=VisitingPompeii>{{cite web | url = http://www.archaeology.co.uk/cwa/issues/cwa4/pompeii/eruption.htm | title = Visiting Pompeii - AD 79 - Vesuvius explodes | work = Current Archeology | accessdate=2006-12-08}}</ref> becoming more frequent over the next four days, but the warnings were not recognised (it is worth noting the Romans had no word for volcano, and only a hazy concept of other similar mountains like ], home of ]), and on the afternoon of ], a catastrophic eruption of the volcano started. The eruption devastated the region, burying Pompeii and other settlements. By coincidence it was the day after ]alia, the festival of the Roman god of fire. | |||
| <ref> (in Italian) Retrieved on 18 August 2007</ref><ref> by ]</ref><ref></ref><ref> Retrieved on 18 August 2007</ref><ref></ref><ref name="Eyewitness to history" /> | |||
| ==== Nature of the eruption ==== | |||
| The eruption of Vesuvius on 24 and 25 August, 79, unfolded in two phases, | |||
| <ref>Haraldur Sigurdsson, Stanford Cashdollar and Stephen R. J. Sparks, "The eruption The Eruption of Vesuvius in A. D. 79: Reconstruction from Historical and Volcanological Evidence" ''American Journal of Archaeology '86''.1 (January 1982), pp. 39-51.</ref> a ] that lasted eighteen to twenty hours and produced a rain of pumice southward of the cone that built up to depths of 2.8 meters at Pompeii, followed by a ] or ''nuée ardente'' in the second, ] that reached as far as ] but was concentrated to the west and northwest. Two pyroclastic flows engulfed Pompeii, burning and asphyxiating the stragglers who had remained behind. ] and ] received the brunt of the flows and were buried in fine ash and pyroclastic deposits.<ref></ref><ref></ref><ref></ref><ref>Live Mount Vesuvius ]s: , </ref><ref> (in Italian) Retrieved on 18 August 2007</ref> | |||
| ==== The Two Plinys ==== | |||
| =====Pliny the Younger===== | |||
| The only surviving reliable eyewitness account of the event was recorded by ], who was 17 at the time of the eruption, in two letters to the historian ]<ref>, Translation of Pliny's letters. </ref>. Observing it from ] (across the bay, approximately 35 km from the volcano) whilst his uncle sailed closer, he saw an extraordinarily dense and rapidly-rising cloud appearing above the mountain: | |||
| {{cquote|I cannot give you a more exact description of its appearance than by comparing to a ] tree; for it shot up to a great height in the form of a tall trunk, which spread out at the top as though into branches. ... Occasionally it was brighter, occasionally darker and spotted, as it was either more or less filled with earth and cinders. (Sixth Book of Letters, Letter 16.)}} | |||
| This was the ], now estimated to have been more than 32 km (20 miles) tall. | |||
| After some time he described the cloud rushing down the flanks of the mountain and covering everything around it, including the surrounding sea. This is known today as a ], which is a cloud of superheated gas, ash, and rock that erupts from a volcano. ]s have used the magnetic characteristics of over 200 volcanic rocks and pieces of debris (e.g. roof tiles) found in Pompeii to estimate the temperature of this pyroclastic flow. (When molten rock solidifies, magnetic minerals in the rock record the direction of Earth's ]. If the material is heated above a certain temperature, known as the ], the rock's magnetic field may be modified or completely reset.) Most of the materials analyzed experienced temperatures between 240 °C and 340 °C (with a few areas showing lower temperatures of only 180 °C). This suggests that the ash cloud had a temperature of 850 °C when emerging from the mouth of Vesuvius and had cooled to below 350 °C by the time it reached the city. It is theorized that turbulence may have mixed cool air into the ash cloud. (Cioni, ''et al.'', 2004). This is now called the Plinian stage of the eruption, named after both the younger and elder Plinys. | |||
| Pliny stated that several earth tremors were felt at the time of the eruption and were followed by a very violent shaking of the ground. He also noted that ash was falling in very thick sheets and the village he was in had to be evacuated, and then that the sun was blocked out by the eruption and the daylight hours were left in darkness. Also, the sea was sucked away and forced back by an "earthquake", a phenomenon now called a ]. | |||
| ===== Pliny the Elder ===== | |||
| Pliny’s uncle ] was in command of the ] at Misenum, and had meanwhile decided to take several ships to investigate the phenomenon at close hand. The fleet also attempted a rescue mission for those at the foot of the volcano when, as the ship was preparing to leave the area, a messenger arrived from a friend of Pliny’s living on the coast near the foot of the volcano imploring him to rescue her. He set off across the bay but encountered thick showers of hot cinders, lumps of pumice and pieces of rock which, altering the shoreline and water depths, blocked his approach to the shore and prevented him from landing there. The prevailing southerly wind also stopped him landing there, but he continued south under it to ] (about 4.5 km from Pompeii) where he landed and took shelter with Pomponianus, a friend. Pomponianus had already loaded a ship with possessions and was preparing to leave, but the wind was against him. | |||
| Pliny and his party saw flames coming from several parts of the mountain (probably ]s and ]s, which would later destroy Pompeii and Herculaneum). After staying overnight, the party decided to evacuate in spite of the rain of ] because of the continuing violent conditions threatening to collapse the building. Pliny, Pomponianus and their companions made their way back towards the beach with pillows tied to their heads to protect them from rockfall. By this time, there was so much ash in the air that the party could barely see through the murk and needed torches and lanterns to find their way. They made it to the beach but found the waters too violently disturbed from the continuous earthquakes for them to escape safely by sea. | |||
| Pliny the Elder collapsed and died, and in the first letter to Tacitus his nephew suggested that this was due to the inhalation of poisonous, sulphuric gases. However, Stabiae was 16 km from the vent (roughly where the modern town of ] is situated) and his companions were apparently unaffected by the fumes, and so it is more likely that the corpulent<ref>{{cite web | url= http://www.hort.purdue.edu/newcrop/history/lecture19/lec19.html | title = Greek, Carthaginian, and Roman Agricultural Writers | work = History of Horticulture | year = 2002 | author = Jules Janick, Purdue University |accessdate= 2006-12-08}}</ref> Pliny died from some other cause, such as a ] or ].<ref>{{cite web | url= http://volcanology.geol.ucsb.edu/pliny.htm | title = Derivation of the name "Plinian" | work = The Volcano Information Center | accessdate= 2006-12-08 }}</ref> His body was found with no apparent injuries on ], after the plume had dispersed sufficiently for daylight to return. | |||
| ==== Casualties from the eruption ==== | |||
| ] | |||
| Along with Pliny the Elder, the only other noble casualties of the eruption to be known by name were Agrippa (a son of the Jewish ] ] and the procurator ]) and his wife.<ref>Mentioned in Josephus, '']'', xx.7.2, and in a lost section of the work.</ref> | |||
| Estimates of the population of Pompeii range from 10,000<ref>{{cite web | url = http://enginova.com/engineering_of_pompeii.htm | title = Engineering of Pompeii | author = Doug Criner | accessdate=2006-12-08}}</ref> to 25,000,<ref name="Eyewitness to history">{{cite web | url= http://www.eyewitnesstohistory.com/pompeii.htm | title = The Destruction of Pompeii, 79 AD | work = Eyewitness to History | accessdate = 2006-12-08 }}</ref> whilst Herculaneum is thought to have had a population of about 5,000<ref name="Volcano World">{{cite web | url = http://volcano.und.nodak.edu/vwdocs/volc_images/img_vesuvius.html | title = Vesuvius, Italy | work = Volcano World | accessdate=2006-12-08}}</ref>. It is not known how many people the eruption killed, although around 1,150 remains of bodies — or casts made of their impressions in the ash deposits — have been recovered in and around Pompeii.<ref name="Episodes">{{ cite journal | journal = Episodes | volume = 26 | date = September 2003 | url= http://vulcan.fis.uniroma3.it/lavori/episodes.pdf | title = The eruption of Vesuvius of 79 AD and its impact on human environment in Pompei | author = Lisetta Giacomelli, Annamaria Perrotta, Roberto Scandone, Claudio Scarpati | accessdate = 2006-12-08}}</ref> The remains of about 350 bodies have been found at Herculaneum (300 in arched vaults discovered in ]).<ref>{{ cite web | url = http://www.fieldmuseum.org/pompeii/herculaneum_2.asp | title = Pompeii, Stories from an eruption | work = The Field Museum of Natural History, Chicago | accessdate = 2006-12-08}}</ref> However these figures must represent a great underestimation of the total number of deaths over the region affected by the eruption. | |||
| Thirty-eight percent of the victims at Pompeii were found in the ash fall deposits, the majority inside buildings. These are thought to have been killed mainly by roof collapses, with the smaller number of victims found outside of buildings probably being killed by falling roof slates or by larger rocks thrown out by the volcano. This differs from modern experience, since over the last four hundred years only around 4% of victims have been killed by ash falls during explosive eruptions. The remaining 62% of remains found at Pompeii were in the pyroclastic surge deposits,<ref name="Episodes" /> and thus were probably killed by them — probably from a combination of suffocation through ash inhalation and blast and debris thrown around. In contrast to the victims found at Herculaneum, examination of cloth, frescoes and skeletons show that it is unlikely that high temperatures were a significant cause. | |||
| Herculaneum, which was much closer to the crater, was saved from tephra falls by the wind direction, but was buried under 23 m (75 ft) of material deposited by pyroclastic surges. It is likely that most, or all, of the victims in this town were killed by the surges, particularly given evidence of high temperatures found on the skeletons of the victims found in the arched vaults, and the existence of carbonised wood in many of the buildings. | |||
| Pompeii and Herculaneum were never rebuilt, although surviving townspeople and probably looters did undertake extensive salvage work after the destructions. | |||
| The eruption changed the course of the ] and raised the sea beach, so that Pompeii was now neither on the river nor adjacent to the coast. | |||
| The towns' locations were eventually forgotten until their accidental rediscovery in the ]. Vesuvius itself underwent major changes — its slopes were denuded of vegetation and its summit had changed considerably due to the force of the eruption.<ref></ref><ref></ref><ref></ref><ref></ref><ref></ref><ref></ref><ref></ref><ref> (i.e. Famous and recent eruptions)</ref><ref></ref> | |||
| === Date of the eruption === | |||
| The eruption of AD 79 was documented by contemporary historians and is universally accepted as having started on August 24th. However the archeological excavations of Pompeii suggest that the town was buried a couple of months later.<ref>{{cite journal | title = La vera data dell'eruzione | author = Grete Stefani | url=http://www.pompeiisites.org/database/pompei/pompei2.nsf/pagine/C3C351B3BB8419FFC125720F005D4A8B?OpenDocument | journal = Archeo | date = October 2006 | issue = 260 | pages = 10-14 | accessdate= 2007-12-02}} (in Italian)</ref><ref>{{cite web | author = Gabi Laske | url=http://quakeinfo.ucsd.edu/~gabi/erth15/lecture08/pliny.html | title = The A.D. 79 Eruption at Mt. Vesuvius | work = Lecture notes for UCSD-ERTH15: "Natural Disasters" | accessdate= 2007-07-20}}</ref> For example, people buried in the ash appear to be wearing warmer clothing than the light summer clothes that would be expected in August. The fresh fruit and vegetables in the shops are typical of October, and conversely the summer fruit that would have been typical of August was already being sold in dried, or conserved form. Wine fermenting jars had been sealed over, and this would have happened around the end of October. The coins found in the purse of a woman buried in the Ash include a commemorative coin that should have been minted at the end of September. So far there is no definitive theory as to why there should be such an apparent discrepancy. | |||
| === Later eruptions === | |||
| ] (ca. 1774-6)]] | |||
| ] | |||
| Since the eruption of ], Vesuvius has erupted around three dozen times. It erupted again in ], during the lifetime of the historian ]. In ], it ejected such a volume of ash that ashfalls were reported as far away as ]. The eruptions of ] were so severe that those inhabiting the slopes of Vesuvius were granted exemption from taxes by ], the ] king of Italy. Further eruptions were recorded in ], ], ], ], ] and ] with the first recorded ] flows. The volcano became quiescent at the end of the ] and in the following years it again became covered with gardens and vineyards as of old. Even the inside of the crater was filled with shrubbery. | |||
| Vesuvius entered a new and particularly destructive phase in December ], when a major eruption buried many villages under lava flows, killing around 3,000 people. Torrents of boiling water were also ejected, adding to the devastation. Activity thereafter became almost continuous, with relatively severe eruptions occurring in ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ], and ]. The eruption of 1906 was particularly destructive, killing over 100 people and ejecting the most lava ever recorded from a Vesuvian eruption. Its last major eruption ] came in March ], destroying the villages of ], ], ], and part of ], as well as all 88 planes in a ] ] group <ref>, Federal Aviation Authority</ref>, as ] continued to rage in Italy. | |||
| The volcano has been quiescent ever since. Over the past few centuries, the quiet stages have varied from 18 months to 7½ years, making the current lull in activity the longest in nearly 500 years. While Vesuvius is not thought likely to erupt in the immediate future, the danger posed by future eruptions is seen as very high in the light of the volcano's tendency towards sudden extremely violent explosions and the very dense human population on and around the mountain. | |||
| === The future === | |||
| ] | |||
| Large plinian eruptions which emit ] in quantities of about 1 km³ or more, the most recent of which overwhelmed Pompeii, have happened after periods of inactivity of a few thousand years. ] eruptions producing about 0.1 km³, such as those of 472 and 1631, have been more frequent with a few hundred years between them. Following the 1631 eruption until 1944 every few years saw a comparatively small eruption which emitted 0.001-0.01 km³ of magma. It seems that for Vesuvius the amount of magma expelled in an eruption increases very roughly linearly with the interval since the previous one, and at a rate of around 0.001 km³ for each year. This gives an extremely approximate figure of 0.06 km³ for an eruption after 60 years of inactivity.<ref name="Italian Volcanoes">{{cite book | title=Italian Volcanoes| publisher=Terra Publishing| year=2001 | author=Kilburn, Chris & McGuire, Bill| id=ISBN 1-903544-04-1}}</ref> | |||
| Magma sitting in an underground ] for many years will start to see higher melting point constituents such as ] crystallising out. The effect is to increase the concentration of dissolved gases (mostly ] and ]) in the remaining liquid magma, making the subsequent eruption more violent.<ref name="Volcanoes in Human History">{{cite book | title=Volcanoes in Human History | publisher=Princeton University Press | year=2002 | author=de Boer, Jelle Zeilinga & Sanders, Donald Theodore| id=ISBN 0-691-05081-3}}</ref> As gas-rich magma approaches the surface during an ], the huge drop in ] caused by the reduction in weight of the overlying rock (which drops to zero at the surface) causes the gases to come out of solution, the volume of gas increasing explosively from nothing to perhaps many times that of the accompanying magma. Additionally, the removal of the lower melting point material will raise the concentration of ] components such as ]s potentially making the magma more ], adding to the explosive nature of the eruption. | |||
| The emergency plan for an eruption therefore assumes that the worst case will be an eruption of similar size and type to the 1631 ] 4<ref>{{cite web | url= http://vulcan.fis.uniroma3.it/vesuvio/VESUVIO_1631-1944.html | title = Activity of Vesuvio between 1631 and 1799 | work = Explore Italian Volcanoes | accessdate= 2006-12-09}}</ref> one. In this scenario the slopes of the mountain, extending out to about 7 kilometres (4.3 miles) from the vent, may be exposed to pyroclastic flows sweeping down them, whilst much of the surrounding area could suffer from ] falls. Because of ], towns to the south and east of the volcano are most at risk from this, and it is assumed that tephra accumulation exceeding 100 kg/m² – at which point people are at risk from collapsing roofs — may extend out as far as ] to the east or ] to the south east. Towards Naples, to the north west, this tephra fall hazard is assumed to extend barely past the slopes of the volcano.<ref name="Italian Volcanoes">{{cite book | title=Italian Volcanoes| publisher=Terra Publishing| year=2001 | author=Kilburn, Chris & McGuire, Bill| id=ISBN 1-903544-04-1}}</ref> The specific areas actually affected by the ash cloud will depend upon | |||
| the particular circumstances surrounding the eruption. <ref>{{cite web | url= http://www.virtualtorre.com/servizi/vesuvio/piano/b1.htm | title = Emergency plan (Italian) | accessdate= 2006-12-09 }}</ref> | |||
| ] | |||
| The plan assumes between two weeks and 20 days <ref>, UK Guardian newspaper, 16 October 2003 </ref><ref name="USA today 21-10-03">{{ cite web | url= http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/2003-10-20-vesuvius-usat_x.htm | title= Italians trying to prevent a modern Pompeii | work = USA Today | date = 21 October 2003 |accessdate =2006-12-08}}</ref> notice of an eruption and foresees the ] of 600,000 people, almost entirely comprising all those living in the ''zona rossa'' ("red zone"), i.e. at greatest risk from pyroclastic flows. The evacuation, by | |||
| ]s, ], ]s, and ]es is planned to take about seven days, and the evacuees will mostly be sent to other parts of the country rather than to safe areas in the local ] region, and may have to stay away for several months. However the dilemma that would face those implementing the plan is when to start this massive evacuation, since if it is left too late then many people could be killed, whilst if it is started too early then the precursors of the eruption may turn out to have been a ]. In ], 40,000 people were evacuated from the ] area, another volcanic complex near Naples, but no eruption occurred. <ref name="USA today 21-10-03">{{ cite web | url= http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/2003-10-20-vesuvius-usat_x.htm | title= Italians trying to prevent a modern Pompeii | work = USA Today | date = 21 October 2003 |accessdate =2006-12-08}}</ref> | |||
| Ongoing efforts are being made to reduce the population living in the red zone, by demolishing illegally constructed buildings, establishing a national park around the upper flanks of the volcano to prevent the erection of further ]s<ref name="USA today 21-10-03">{{ cite web | url= http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/2003-10-20-vesuvius-usat_x.htm | title= Italians trying to prevent a modern Pompeii | work = USA Today | date = 21 October 2003 |accessdate =2006-12-08}}</ref> and by offering financial incentives to people for moving away. The underlying goal is to reduce the time needed to evacuate the area, over the next 20 or 30 years, to two or three days.<ref>{{cite conference |coauthors = Paolo Gasparini, Franco Barberi, Attilio Belli | title = Early Warning of Volcanic eruptions and Earthquakes in the neapolitan area, Campania Region, South Italy | booktitle = Second International Conference on Early Warning, Bonn, Germany, 16-18 October 2003 | url = http://www.ewc2.org/upload/downloads/Gasparini2003AbstractEWC2.pdf | format = pdf | accessdate = 2007-01-26}}</ref> | |||
| The volcano is closely monitored by the ] in Naples with extensive networks of seismic and gravimetric stations, a combination of a ]-based geodetic array and ]-based ]<ref>{{cite web | url= http://volcano.und.edu/vwdocs/vw_news/vesuvius.html | title= ESA press release on satellite monitoring of Vesuvius | accessdate= 2007-01-26 }}</ref> to measure ground movement, and by local ]s and chemical analyses of ]es emitted from ]s. All of this is intended to track magma rising underneath the volcano. So far, no magma has been detected within 10 km of the surface, and so the volcano was, in 2001, at worst only in the very early stages of preparing for an eruption.<ref name="Italian Volcanoes">{{cite book | title=Italian Volcanoes| publisher=Terra Publishing| year=2001 | author=Kilburn, Chris & McGuire, Bill| id=ISBN 1-903544-04-1}}</ref> This status has apparently not changed much to date. | |||
| <ref>{{ cite web | url= http://www.ov.ingv.it/inglese/vesuvio/vesuvio.htm | title= Monitoring of Mount Vesuvius | work = Osservatorio Vesuviano, Italian National Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology | accessdate =2006-12-08}}</ref><ref> | |||
| {{ cite web | url= http://www.ov.ingv.it/inglese/vesuvio/livelli.htm | title= Present level of alert on Vesuvius | work = Osservatorio Vesuviano, Italian National Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology | accessdate =2006-12-08}}</ref> | |||
| ] | |||
| == Vesuvius today == | |||
| The area around Vesuvius was officially declared a ] on 5 June 1995<ref></ref>. The summit of Vesuvius is open to visitors and there is a small network of paths around the mountain that are maintained by the park authorities on weekends. | |||
| There is access by road to within 200 metres of the summit (measured vertically), but thereafter access is on foot only. There is a spiral walkway around the mountain from the road to the crater. | |||
| {{-}} | |||
| == References == | |||
| {{reflist|2}} | |||
| {{coor title dms|40|49|14|N|14|25|47|E|region:IT_type:mountain}} | |||
| {{DEFAULTSORT:Vesuvius, Mount}} | |||
| {{Link FA|es}} | |||
| {{Link FA|hu}} | |||
| ] | |||
| ] | |||
| ] | |||
| ] | |||
| ] | |||
| ] | |||
| ] | |||
| ] | |||
| ] | |||
| ] | |||
| ] | |||
| ] | |||
| ] | |||
| ] | |||
| ] | |||
| ] | |||
| ] | |||
| ] | |||
| ] | |||
| ] | |||
| ] | |||
| ] | |||
| ] | |||
| ] | |||
| ] | |||
| ] | |||
| ] | |||
| ] | |||
| ] | |||
| ] | |||
| ] | |||
| ] | |||
| ] | |||
| ] | |||
| ] | |||
| ] | |||
| ] | |||
| ] | |||
| ] | |||
| ] | |||
| ] | |||
| ] | |||
| ] | |||
| ] | |||
| ] | |||
| ] | |||
| ] | |||
| ] | |||
| ] | |||
| ] | |||
| ] | |||
| ] | |||
| ] | |||
| ] | |||
| ] | |||
| ] | |||
| ] | |||
| ] | |||
| ] | |||
| ] | |||
| ] | |||
| ] | |||
| ] | |||
Revision as of 17:06, 4 December 2007
blahblahblahbah hehehehehe retards!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!