Where is vesuvius located within italy

Vesuvius is part of the Campanian volcanic arc, a line of volcanoes that formed over a subduction zone created by the convergence of the African and Eurasian plates. This subduction zone stretches the length of the Italian peninsula, and is also the source of other volcanoes like Mount Etna , the Phlegraean Fields Campi Flegrei , Vulcano, and Stromboli.

Under Vesuvius, the lower part of the subducting slab has torn and detached from the upper part to form what is called a "slab window. They were buried by the ashfall. Image: Garden of the Fugitives. The cone known as Mount Vesuvius began growing in the caldera of the Mount Somma volcano, which last erupted about 17, years ago.

Andesite lava creates explosive eruptions on a variety of scales, which makes Vesuvius an especially dangerous and unpredictable volcano. Plinian eruptions huge explosions that create columns of gas, ash and rock which can rise dozens of kilometers into the atmosphere have a much greater reach, and have destroyed entire ancient cities near Vesuvius with huge ashfalls and pyroclastic flows.

Vesuvius is currently quiet, with only minor seismic earthquake activity and outgassing from fumaroles in its summit crater, but more violent activity could resume in the future. Brick columns stand among ruins of the ancient city of Pompeii. A view of Naples at the height of the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in A Melvin C. Mount Vesuvius has experienced eight major eruptions in the last 17, years.

The 79 AD eruption is one of the most well-known ancient eruptions in the world, and may have killed more than 16, people. Ash, mud and rocks from this eruption buried the cities of Pompeii and Herculaneum. Pompeii is famous for the casts the hot ash formed around victims of the eruptions. The unfortunate people suffocated on ash in the air, which then covered them and preserved amazing details of their clothing and faces. Starting in , Vesuvius entered a period of steady volcanic activity, including lava flows and eruptions of ash and mud.

Violent eruptions in the late s, s and early s created more fissures, lava flows, and ash-and-gas explosions. 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. McRae wrote in his diary on March 20, , according to the American Geosciences Institute , "As I sit in my tent … I can hear at four- to second intervals the loud rumbling of the volcano on the third day of its present eruption.

The noise is like that of bowling balls slapping into the pins on a giant bowling alley. To look above the mountain tonight, one would think that the world was on fire. The thickly clouded sky glows like that above a huge forest fire. Glowing brighter as new spouts of flame and lava are spewn from the crater.

As the clouds pass from across the top of the mountain, the flame and lava can be seen shooting high into the sky to spill over the sides and run in red streams down the slopes. Today it is estimated that a path of molten lava 1 mile long, half a mile wide, and 8 feet deep is rolling down the mountain. Towns on the slopes are preparing to evacuate. Our location is, apparently, safe. At any rate no one here, civilian or Army authorities, seems too much worried. Lava has not started to flow down this side of the mountain as yet but is flowing on the other side toward Naples.

On March 22, they were forced to evacuate, leaving behind 88 Allied aircraft. After the volcano subsided, they returned on the 30th to find the planes were a total loss. Engines were clogged by ash, control panels were useless tangles of fused wire, canopies had holes from flying rock or were etched to opacity by wind driven ash. One airman of the th Bomber Squadron complained in his diary when Axis Sally broadcast a radio show dedicated to the "survivors" of the Vesuvius eruption actually the most severe human casualty was a wrist sprained during the evacuation.

She told all of Europe that "Colonel Vesuvius" had destroyed all of them. The diarist was justifiably proud of the work he did with his fellows in recovery. By April 15, the planes had been replaced and the th Bomber Group was back to full strength and ready to fly missions from their new base.

Though no soldiers were killed, 26 Italian civilians died and nearly 12, were displaced by the eruption, according to the American Geosciences Institute. Since , there have been hundreds of minor earthquakes in the region around Mount Vesuvius. The most serious earthquake rocked Naples in October The magnitude By the time the Vesuvius eruption sputtered to an end the next day, Pompeii was buried under millions of tons of volcanic ash. About 2, Pompeiians were dead, but the eruption killed as many as 16, people overall.

Some people drifted back to town in search of lost relatives or belongings, but there was not much left to find. Pompeii, along with the neighboring town of Herculaneum and a number of villas in the area, was abandoned for centuries. Pompeii remained mostly untouched until , when a group of explorers looking for ancient artifacts arrived in Campania and began to dig.

They found that the ashes had acted as a marvelous preservative: Underneath all that dust, Pompeii was almost exactly as it had been almost 2, years before. Its buildings were intact. Everyday objects and household goods littered the streets. Later archaeologists even uncovered jars of preserved fruit and loaves of bread!

Many scholars say that the excavation of Pompeii played a major role in the neo-Classical revival of the 18th century. Start your free trial today. But if you see something that doesn't look right, click here to contact us!

Subscribe for fascinating stories connecting the past to the present. Located just east of the Roman Forum, the massive stone amphitheater known as the Colosseum was commissioned around A.

He is best known for his debaucheries, political murders, persecution of Christians and a passion for music that led to the probably He shrewdly combined military The son of a great military leader, he escaped family intrigues to take the throne, but his Greek philosophy and rhetoric moved fully into Latin for the first time in the speeches, letters and dialogues of Cicero B. A brilliant lawyer and the first of his family to achieve Roman office, Cicero was one of the Julius Caesar was a renowned general, politician and scholar in ancient Rome who conquered the vast region of Gaul and helped initiate the end of the Roman Republic when he became dictator of the Roman Empire.

Despite his brilliant military prowess, his political skills and his