The Facts On Mt. Vesuvius
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Mt. Vesuvius
HERE ARE SOME FACTS ON VESUVIUS
Mt. Vesuvius
Facts
Height- 1277 meters (4190 feet)
Base - 48 kilometers (30 miles)
Location - Southern Italy near Naples
Age - 17,000 years old
Eruptions - Over 50 (Most Famous in 79 A.D.)
ERUPTIONS
Mt. Vesuvius's most famous eruption was in 79 A.D. when it destroyed the citites of Herculaneum and Pompeii. When Vesuvius erupted it covered the cities of Herculaneum and Pompeii it covered the cities with 20 feet of volcanic debris. During this eruption about 2000 people were killed inculding Pliny the Elder, a Roman naturalist. That eruption was called a plinian explosion. This means that when extremely gas-rich, viscous magma explodes deep inside a volcano (the vent serves as a gun barrel) and tremendous blast shoots straight up at twice the speed of sound, creating a vertical column of ash as much as 20-miles high.
Since then it has erupted over 50 times and is still active. Some other eruptions include one in 1631 when 5 towns were destroyed and 3000 people were killed, another one was in 1794 when it destroyed the town of
Torre Del Greco.The next viloent eruption happenned on April 1906 when it lasted ten days and causing great destruction and killed 2000 people. Since then smaller eruptions happenned in 1913, 1926, 1929, and 1944.
FINDINGS
Since all of the eruptions Mt. Vesuvius had, there have been many findings of things at the site. Perfectly preserved bodies of victims(go to my pictures) have been found there. A dog was also found there. Drinking chalices, stoneworks, eyeshields, and heating stoves. Almost everything found there has been preserved in good condition.
POMPEII
an ancient city of Italy, in the Campania Region, built at the mouth of the Sarnus River (now Sarno), a few miles south of Mount Vesuvius, between Herculaneum and Stabiae. The city was founded about 600 BC by the Oscans, who were later conquered by the Samnites. Under the dictator Lucius Cornelius Sulla it became a Roman colony in 80 BC and later a favorite resort for wealthy Romans, reaching a population of about 20,000 at the beginning of the Christian era. It was also a place of considerable trade and was the port town of Nola and other inland cities of the fertile valley of the Sarnus. The city was much damaged by an earthquake in AD 63 and was completely demolished in AD 79 by an eruption of Mount Vesuvius that overwhelmed the towns of Pompeii, Herculaneum, and Stabiae. The eruption also changed the course of the Sarnus and raised the sea beach, placing the river and the sea at a considerable distance from the ruined city and obscuring the original site.
DANGERS TODAY
Mt. Vesuvius is still active today. It is the only active volcano on the European mainland.Its last eruption happenned in 1944. The danger is that over 2 million people live near Vesuvius and may be in danger. I think that the reason that they still live there is fertile soil.
Written by Mike Buczek
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Email: mab9@po.cwru.edu
