Mount Vesuvius Research Paper
Mount. Vesuvius Vesuvius is the only active volcano in mainland Europe, and has produced some of the continent 's largest volcanic eruptions. Vesuvius and other Italian volcanoes, are part of the Campanian volcanic arc. The Campanian arc sits on a tectonic boundary where the African plate is being subducted beneath the Eurasian plate. Apparently, no one was aware that Vesuvius was an active volcano, even after an earthquake in February of the year 63. The towns’ people thought the soil was very fertile and planted many crops so they didn’t want to move even after the earthquakes. Mt. Vesuvius ' column is projected to have reached about 66,000 ' in height. The two major explosions it had occurred with the cuties of Pompeii and Herculaneum,
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although one of the explosions was very slow so you could out walk it, but the other one was very rapid in violent but did preserve the bodies very well, they were almost intact.
The preserved remains of Pompeii are not the only evidence of the disaster. There were two authors who witnessed the eruption and also recorded their observations. Pliny the Elder was across the bay from Vesuvius on the morning of August 24 when a large cloud was noticed sitting above the city from the volcano. He sent several ships to the coastal town of Resina, a town close to the eruption, to investigate, but the ships could not land because they ended up being taken down by flaming rocks from the volcano. Pliny the Elder headed toward the town of Stabiae, where ash continued to fall through the night. By the following morning, the ash had even taken the sun from view. On August 25, Pliny the Elder died, apparently by sulfur gases released from the volcano. Pliny the Younger author, just 18 years old at the time, reported people climbing through waves of ash to escape. His account of the tons of pumice, rock and ash that Vesuvius pumped out over a 25-hour period, combined with the evidence of remains left in Pompeii, indicates that about 2,000 residents of Pompeii survived the initial eruption of Vesuvius on August 24. It was the following morning when the other, more powerful eruption killed
everyone in an instant. When rain mixed with the ash, it formed a sort of concrete, preserving the city, this is why the remains were so intact. The town of Herculaneum was also buried on August 25, but by a mudslide set off by the eruption and accompanying tremors. It is estimated that 13,000 people in total died from the eruption. Currently Since 1944, there have been hundreds of only minor earthquakes around Mount Vesuvius. The worst earthquake in a while shook Naples in October 1999. With a magnitude of 3.6 quake was felt 15 miles from the base of mount Vesuvius and was the same magnitude as a quake that happened 17 years prior to the last major explosion that devastated Naples in 1631. The volcanic covering of Pompeii and Herculaneum provided an amazing opportunity for future historians to gather information considering the ash preserved and protected Pompeii and Herculaneum against the elements until future archaeologists found these cities preserved in time. It helped uncover more about our past and almost all of it was perfectly preserved.
Works Cited
Ball, Jessica. “Mount Vesuvius - Italy." .
Bagley, Mary. “Mount Vesuvius & Pompeii: Facts & History” LiveScience Contributor, March 13, 2013 02:03pm ET
“Herculaneum Uncovered.” May 20th, 2008
although one of the explosions was very slow so you could out walk it, but the other one was very rapid in violent but did preserve the bodies very well, they were almost intact.
The preserved remains of Pompeii are not the only evidence of the disaster. There were two authors who witnessed the eruption and also recorded their observations. Pliny the Elder was across the bay from Vesuvius on the morning of August 24 when a large cloud was noticed sitting above the city from the volcano. He sent several ships to the coastal town of Resina, a town close to the eruption, to investigate, but the ships could not land because they ended up being taken down by flaming rocks from the volcano. Pliny the Elder headed toward the town of Stabiae, where ash continued to fall through the night. By the following morning, the ash had even taken the sun from view. On August 25, Pliny the Elder died, apparently by sulfur gases released from the volcano. Pliny the Younger author, just 18 years old at the time, reported people climbing through waves of ash to escape. His account of the tons of pumice, rock and ash that Vesuvius pumped out over a 25-hour period, combined with the evidence of remains left in Pompeii, indicates that about 2,000 residents of Pompeii survived the initial eruption of Vesuvius on August 24. It was the following morning when the other, more powerful eruption killed
everyone in an instant. When rain mixed with the ash, it formed a sort of concrete, preserving the city, this is why the remains were so intact. The town of Herculaneum was also buried on August 25, but by a mudslide set off by the eruption and accompanying tremors. It is estimated that 13,000 people in total died from the eruption. Currently Since 1944, there have been hundreds of only minor earthquakes around Mount Vesuvius. The worst earthquake in a while shook Naples in October 1999. With a magnitude of 3.6 quake was felt 15 miles from the base of mount Vesuvius and was the same magnitude as a quake that happened 17 years prior to the last major explosion that devastated Naples in 1631. The volcanic covering of Pompeii and Herculaneum provided an amazing opportunity for future historians to gather information considering the ash preserved and protected Pompeii and Herculaneum against the elements until future archaeologists found these cities preserved in time. It helped uncover more about our past and almost all of it was perfectly preserved.
Works Cited
Ball, Jessica. “Mount Vesuvius - Italy." .
Bagley, Mary. “Mount Vesuvius & Pompeii: Facts & History” LiveScience Contributor, March 13, 2013 02:03pm ET
“Herculaneum Uncovered.” May 20th, 2008