Mt. Vesuvius Research Paper

Volcanos are deadly, can form on islands or mainland, and can destroy mountains and cities. Volcanos commonly form from holes in the earth containing magma. When pressure builds up in these magma chambers, they explode resulting in magma and rock catapulting out into the air. As these volcanoes repeatedly explode, they leak magma, which runs down the side of the volcano. Eventually, the lava cools and transforms into solid rock, building up the volcano to mountain size. An example of giant volcanic eruptions is the Pompeii disaster in 79AD, when Mount Vesuvius erupted and destroyed all of Pompeii. Another example includes, the 1980 eruption of Mount St. Helens in Washington state, which destroyed the whole mountain. Volcanos

● This was the first time this type of volcano eruption was actually witnessed and

The Mexican volcano experienced its largest eruption in 1913, which lasted for 4 days, and formed a crater 300 meters in depth (http://volcano.oregonstate.edu/colima). Experts show concern that the volcano is exhibiting many of the

Mt. Vesuvius caused destruction to the people that lived in Pompeii, on the island of Campania Vesuvius was a volcano that covered the town in ash, and there are still remains left.

Over 2,000 years ago, Mount Vesuvius chose the city of Pompeii to be its next victim. August 79 A.D was the fateful day that would destroy thousands of lives, and their beloved homes. When Mount Vesuvius erupted it sent ashes, rocks, and volcanic gases to rain over Pompeii and cause complete chaos. After Mount Vesuvius’ first attack on Pompeii, a tower of debris drifted to earth. Buildings collapsed and ash clogged the air. Then a surge of poison gas and rock poured down the side of the mountain, destroying everything that laid in its path. Pompeii was done for.

Pompeii was once a large and promising city that one day became uninhabitable by the eruption of mount Vesuvius.

Dr. Richard Waitt inform us that the eruption on May 18, 1980 surprise scientists because they had a lot of data that they collected and that data didn’t indicated that an eruption was going to come on that day. When it blast in May 18, 1980, it destroyed everything in their path. For example, a total of 57 people were killed, thousands of deer, elk, bears, and other wildlife were killed, and the eruption had cut open a 2,000-foot-wide crater in the top. The landscape was unrecognizable by geologist who had spent about two months before the explosion on May 18 working up the volcano every day. It is interesting to know that discolored rock in the valley and in the crater wall were evidence that the mountain was decaying before the eruption.

#5 The first eruption that took place that scientists believe was in 475 BCE but it was very vague since it occurred so long ago. The most commonly known eruption was in 1669 in which it killed over 20,000 citizens. The ash spread 100 miles away. Before the eruption an earthquake took place in 1169 killing an additional 15,000 people. It wiped out 14 towns and villages, leaving about 27,000 people homeless. It lasted for about two months. The last actual eruption happened on December 3rd 2015; however, no deaths were lost and it did not last very long (small). Etna's longest time it was fully active began in 1979 and went on for thirteen years. It is still active today but not as much as before. It contains many different types of volcanic igneous rocks including,

Mt. Vesuvius gave Pompeii a “warning” earthquake in 62 AD (Goor 8). In 79 AD, a loud bang warned the city that Vesuvius was about to explode (Cartwright par.12). The explosion covered over 200 square miles, including not only Pompeii, but a couple other towns (List25). The eruption lasted about a day, but the ash, rocks, and pumice blanketed the city for about two days. Pompeii was buried about twenty feet deep (List25). After the eruption, some people tried to dig to their homes (Goor 13). The eruption was one day after the festival of the Roman god of fire (List25).

One of the volcanoes that are looked to for answers on modern day volcanic eruptions is Mount Vesuvius which is located in Pompeii. This particular volcano erupted in 79 AD. Scientists and archaeologists believe that approximately 13 to 20 feet of ash and lava were sent into the atmosphere and buried the cities of Pompeii, Herculancum and many other cities in the vicinity. Over 1500 years would pass before the stories of this volcano and the people that lived there would start surfacing.

Mount Vesuvius, a volcano located on Italy’s western coastline, overlooking the Bay of Naples creates part of the Campanian volcanic arc along with other nearby volcanoes. The Campanian arc, a line of volcanoes that formed over a subduction zone, was created by the merging of the African and Eurasian plates. This subduction zone covers the entire length of the Italian peninsula, and is the source for other volcanoes like Mount Etna, the Phlegraean Fields (Campi Flegrei), Vulcano, and Stromboli (Ball, n.p.). A gap in the African plate, known as a “slab window”, allowed heat to raise from the Earth’s mantle and melt the plate causing violent eruptions (Bagley, n.p.).

The signs of an impending eruption began to appear long before it actually occurred, the first major sign being earthquakes. Earthquakes are a common indicator of the possibility of rising magma, which is required to occur for a volcano to erupt. These Earthquakes were reportedly occurring as far back as 62 AD, as they continued sporadically all throughout the 17 year period leading up to the eruption. (History of Pompeii book) One such quake caught the attention of the residents of the region when it occurred in 63 AD. The quake was large and rocked the nearby towns of Pompeii and Herculaneum, doing extensive damage that would take years to repair. Due to the limited knowledge of geology at this time, Roman scholars were unable to make the connection between the earthquakes and the possible peril of a Mount Vesuvius eruption.(BBC) Some even argue that the people didn’t even know Vesuvius was a volcano. (Pompeii unplugged)

It all started in August 4th, 79 A.D. Mount Vesuvius has experienced eight major eruptions in the last 17,000 years. The 79 AD eruption is the most well-known ancient eruptions in the world, and may have killed more than 16,000 people. wiped out the entire towns in the next 25 hours. It had buried the city of Pompeii which measured up to 1,281 meters tall. some people where farther away so that meant they had a little more time than the others that lived right next to it. The people that survived the night mostly died in the morning because of the lava and the ashes traveling about two miles faster most likely. Also the toxic gas made it harder to travel due to the radiation like air to all of the travelers away from Mt. Vesuvius. The remains

The town in its height had amazing temples, a forum, and theater for the enjoyment of the wealthy visitors. The eruption of the volcano, Vesuvius, began around noon of August 24, 17 AD when the mountain exploded, sending a 10 mile high cloud of ash, smoke, and rock into the sky. The debris rained down onto the city for the next day, causing its inhabitants to seek safety along the shore line, away from the mountain. Many, however, remained in their homes and became trapped there by both debris and dust clouds. The next morning, those who remained in Pompeii were killed by the poisonous gasses released by the mountain.

On 24 August AD79, Mt Vesuvius created European and world history as it erupted in the most catastrophic and infamous manner. Pliny the Younger has educated historians on the eruption of AD79. Pliny the Younger was a Roman administrator and poet. On the 24th of August Mt Vesuvius exploded with a deadly cloud of volcanic ash, stones, and gas to an approximated height of 33km, spewing molten rock and pulverised pumice, this was rated at one and a half million tons per second.