Mount Vesuvius Research Paper

What is the only active volcano in mainland Europe? That’s right Mount Vesuvius. Mount Vesuvius has had some of the largest volcanic eruptions. The most famous eruption was in 79 AD. This particular eruption destroyed Pompeii, Herculaneum, and many small cities. Although Vesuvius’ last eruption was in 1944 it is still considered active and a threat to the city Naples, the city it towers over.
Mount Vesuvius is apart of the Campanian volcanic arc. This volcanic arc is located on the west coast of Italy. Mount Vesuvius’ coordinates are 40 degrees latitude and 14 degrees longitude. Vesuvius was formed when the African and Eurasian plateau converged. Mount Vesuvius is 1,281 meters or 4,203 feet tall.
Mount Vesuvius has always been depicted with
a serpent. Many people say that Mount Vesuvius has connections with Jupiter and Hercules. One myth says that when Hercules was working in a plain called “the plain of fire” there was a hill that was spitting out fire. This hill today is known as Mount Vesuvius. The Romans still today believe that Mount Vesuvius was devoted to the demigod.
Before the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 AD there wasn’t a name for a volcano. People believe that Mount Vesuvius is around 17,000 years old. In the 17,000 years Mount Vesuvius has been around it has only erupted 50 times. That is once per every 340 years. Mount Vesuvius is considered a composite volcano because most of Vesuvius’ eruptions are explosive eruptions and have lava flows.