POMPEIIEruption of Mount

Vesuvius

POMPEII The city of Pompeii is a partially buried

Roman town-city near modern Naples in the Italian region of Campania, in the territory of the comune of Pompei. Along with Herculaneum, Pompeii was destroyed and completely buried during a long catastrophic eruption of the volcano Mount Vesuvius spanning two days in the year AD 79. The eruption buried Pompeii under 4 to 6 m (13 to 20 ft) of ash and pumice, and it was lost for nearly 1700 years before its accidental rediscovery in 1749. Since then, its excavation has provided an extraordinarily detailed insight into the life of a city at the height of the Roman Empire. Today, this UNESCO World Heritage Site is one of the most popular tourist attractions of Italy, with approximately 2,500,000 visitors every year.

ERUPTION OF MOUNT VESUVIUS In the year of AD 79, Mount Vesuvius erupted in one of the most catastrophic and famous eruptions of all time. The roman vicinities of pompeii, herculaneum and stabiae were affected, and Pompeii and Herculaneum were obliterated. Mount Vesuvius spawned a deadly cloud of stones, ash and fumes to a height of 20.5 miles, spewing molten rock and pulverized pumice at the rate of 1.5 million tons per second, ultimately releasing a hundred thousand times the thermal energy released by the hiroshima bombing

ERUPTION OF MOUNT VESUVIUS

Pompeii and other cities affected by the eruption of Mount Vesuvius. The black cloud represents the general distribution of ash and cinder. Modern coast lines are shown.A recent multidisciplinary volcanological and bio-anthropological study of the eruption products and victims, merged with numerical simulations and experiments indicate that at Vesuvius and surrounding towns heat was the main cause of death of people, previously supposed to have died by ash suffocation. The results of this study show that exposure to at least 250 °C hot surges at a distance of 10 kilometres from the vent was sufficient to cause instant death, even if people were sheltered within buildings

PHASES OF ERUPTION

The eruption of Vesuvius of 79 AD unfolded in two phases: a Plinian eruption that lasted

eighteen to twenty hours and produced a rain of pumice southward of the cone that built up

to depths of 2.8 metres (9 ft 2 in) at Pompeii, followed by a pyroclastic flow or nuée ardente

in the second, Peléan phase that reached as far as Misenum but was concentrated to the

west and northwest. Two pyroclastic flows engulfed Pompeii, burning and asphyxiating

the stragglers who had remained behind. Oplontis and Herculaneum received the brunt

of the flows and were buried in fine ash and pyroclastic deposits.

REDISCOVERY

VESUVIUS TODAY THE AREA AROUND VESUVIUS WAS OFFICIALLY

DECLARED A NATIONAL PARK ON 5 JUNE 1995.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.