Download Mt. Vesuvius - Central Square School District

Mt. Vesuvius
• Location: Vesuvius, Italy
– 40.8 N 14.4 E
• Elevation: 1,281 m (4,200 ft)
• Covers approximately 480 Km2
Mt. Vesuvius
http://asterweb.jpl.nasa.gov/gallery/gallery.htm?name=Ve
suvius
Continental-Oceanic Plate
Important Geologic Information
Magma types:
1.) Felsic
2.) Intermediate
3.) Mafic
Primarily Felsic, High Viscosity
Minerals from lava: Plagioclase, Augate, Nephaline…
Eruption type:
Explosive with pyroclastic flows
79 AD Eruption
The Vesuvius eruption began at midday on
August 24, 79 AD
There were two phases of this eruption:
1.)Plinian phase, where material was ejected in a tall column,
spread in atmosphere and fell to earth like rain.
2) Peléan phase where material flowed down the sides of the
volcano as fast-moving avalanches of gas and dust (pyroclastic
flow).
Phase One
The first phase created a Plinian
column approximately 20 km
(66,000 feet) high.
This phase created a rain of ash
and pumice over a broad area
primarily to the south of
Vesuvius, carried by prevailing
winds.
This phase lasted approximately
eighteen hours, when
approximately 2.5 meters (8.2
feet) of pumice stones fell on
Pompeii.
Phase Two
A pyroclastic flow as
seen in the picture here
carries rock debris, ash
and dangerous gases
down the mountain
similar to an avalanche.
Aftermath of Eruption
• Over 3,300 people died in this eruption
alone.
• Most of which were killed in position
from the pyroclastic flow.
• Vesuvius eruption buried the towns of
Herculaneum and Pompeii.
• The city was abandoned and its location
forgotten until 1595.
Pompeii
• Photograph is looking northwest from Pompeii to
Vesuvius. Photo by Chuck Wood.
• Mold of a dog that was chained up during the
eruption and eventually suffocated from the almost
ten feet of volcanic ash that fell on Pompeii.
What If...
• If the Volcano erupted today:
– over 130 million people would be effected
over seven days from ash and other
debris.
– Over 1.5 million people live within two
kilometer of Mt. Vesuvius, and would most
likely die in an eruption, if it occurred today.
– Most likely little to no warning.
Works Cited
• http://www.hotelolimpico.it/-vesuvio.htm
• http://volcano.und.nodak.edu/vwdocs/volc_images/img_ve
suvius.html
• http://volcano.und.nodak.edu/vwdocs/vw_hyperexchange/
deadly_volcs.html
• http://volcano.und.nodak.edu/vwdocs/volc_images/img_ve
suvius.html
• http://asterweb.jpl.nasa.gov/gallery/gallery.htm?name=Ves
uvius
• http://touritaly.org/misc/vesuvio-pre.htm