These damaged or destroyed many towns around the volcano, and sometimes killed people; the eruption of had more than casualties. The most recent eruption was in during World War II. It caused major problems for the newly-arrived Allied forces in Italy when ash and rocks from the eruption destroyed planes and forced evacuations at a nearby airbase.
Her concentration is in volcanology, and she is currently researching lava dome collapses and pyroclastic flows. She also writes the Magma Cum Laude blog , and in what spare time she has left, she enjoys rock climbing and playing various stringed instruments.
Simplified plate tectonics cross-section Simplified plate tectonics cross-section showing how Mount Vesuvius is located above a subduction zone formed where the African plate descends beneath Italy. Map: Where is Vesuvius? Plaster casts: Victims of the 79 A. Ruins at the ancient city of Pompeii Brick columns stand among ruins of the ancient city of Pompeii.
Did You Know? The 79 AD eruption of Vesuvius is why volcanologists use "Plinian" to describe large volcanic eruption clouds. Pliny the Younger, a Roman historian who witnessed the 79 AD eruption, wrote the oldest surviving description of the tall, tree-shaped cloud that rose above the volcano. Modern volcanologists use the term to describe large-volume, violent eruptions that produce quickly-expanding clouds of rock, ash and gases which rise many miles into the atmosphere.
Some more recent examples of Plinian eruptions include Mount St. Helens in and Pinatubo in Here is Pliny's description Its general appearance can be best expressed as being like an umbrella pine, for it rose to a great height on a sort of trunk and then split off into branches, I imagine because it was thrust upwards by the first blast and then left unsupported as the pressure subsided, or else it was borne down by its own weight so that it spread out and gradually dispersed.
Sometimes it looked white, sometimes blotched and dirty, according to the amount of soil and ashes it carried with it. Brilliantly preserved until now The remains of Pompeii lay in an impressive state of preservation for over 1, years until they were uncovered in the 18th-century.
Since their excavation, human interference and natural weathering have led to their decline. Archaeologists are concerned for the future preservation of the site and Pompeii is recognised by the World Monuments Fund; an organisation dedicated to the preservation of historic architecture.
With much of Pompeii and nearby Herculaneum still lying hidden under the volcanic debris, there will still be remnants of the cities in existence for many years to come, but it is not certain how much of the already excavated artefacts will remain. Much of what is left uncovered may remain so for many years to preserve the remnants of the ancient cities. Herculaneum is now buried under the city of Ercolano and, though they have demolished parts of the town to enable excavations in the past, it is unlikely to be uncovered soon.
Who knows what treasure or secrets of the past are waiting to be discovered! Mount Vesuvius makes delicious food You may wonder why so many people lived, and continue to live, in the shadow of Mount Vesuvius.
Well, the answer is simple, volcanic soil is fantastic for plant growth! The mountain was then quiet for hundreds of years and was described by Roman writers as having been covered with gardens and vineyards, 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 Spartacus in 73 BC.
This area was doubtless a crater. 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 years preceding the 79 AD eruption describe the mountain as having had a volcanic nature, although Pliny the Elder did not depict the mountain in this way in his Naturalis Historia.
The area was then, as now, densely populated with villages, towns and small cities like Pompeii, and its slopes were covered in vineyards and farms. Estimates of the population of Pompeii range from 10, to 20,, whilst Herculaneum is thought to have had a population of about It is not known how many people the eruption killed; although around remains of bodies have been recovered, or casts made of their impressions in the ash deposits in and around Pompeii. The remains of about bodies have been found at Herculaneum in arched vaults discovered in However these figures must represent a great underestimate of the total number of deaths over the region affected by the eruption.
Herculaneum, which was much closer to the crater, was saved from tephra falls by the wind direction, but was buried under 23m 75ft 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. Pompeii and Herculaneum were never rebuilt, although surviving townspeople and probably looters did undertake extensive salvage work after the destructions.
The towns' locations were eventually forgotten until their accidental rediscovery in the 18th century. Vesuvius itself underwent major changes - its slopes were denuded of vegetation and its summit had changed considerably due to the force of the eruption.
The lavas of Vesuvius were strong enough to walk on while hot with care! Souvenirs of eruptions include samples made by folding molten lava around a coin, and date-stamped tokens made from lava pressed into a cast-iron mould, such as this example in the collections at Townend in Cumbria. Today, he is perhaps better known as the much older husband of Lady Emma Hamilton during her scandalous love affair with Lord Nelson. Learn how to make your very own volcano and watch it erupt with bubbly fizzy lava with this great Volcano Making Kit!
Sir John Gardner Wilkinson was a nineteenth-century traveller and scholar. He was a pioneer of Egyptology, the modern science devoted to the study of ancient Egypt. David Pyle University of Oxford. Share: Twitter Facebook Pinterest Email. Vesuvius awakes In , Vesuvius burst violently back to life with a tremendous eruption that could be heard for miles around.
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