VesusioLocation : 40° 49’ N, 14° 26’ EElivation: 1281 mVesuvio is a somma--stratovolcano located on the Gulf of Naples inCampania Italy, about 9 km east of Naples and a short distance from theshore. It is one of several volcanoes which form the Campanian volcanic arc.Others include Campi Flegrei, , a large caldera a few kilometers to the northwest, Mount Epomeo, 20 kilometres to the west on the island of Ischia, andseveral undersea volcanoes to the south. Vesuvio consists a large cone (GranCono) partially encircled by the steep rim of a summit caldera caused by thecollapse of an earlier and originally much higher structure called MountSomma. The caldera started forming during an eruption around 17,000 (or18,300) years ago and was enlarged by later paroxysmal eruptions the Gran Cono was produced during the A.D. 79eruption. The height of the main cone has been constantly changed by eruptions, today it is 1,281 m. Monte Somma is1,132 m high, separated from the main cone by the valley of Atrio di Cavallo, which is 5 km long. Mount Vesuvio haserupted many times. The famous eruption in AD 79 was preceded by numerous others in prehistory, including at least threesignificantly larger ones, the best known being the Avellino eruption around 1800 BC which engulfed several Bronze Agesettlements. Since AD 79, the volcano has also erupted repeatedly, in 172, 203, 222, possibly in 303, 379, 472, 512, 536,685, 787, around 860, around 900, 968, 991, 999, 1006, 1037, 1049, around 1073, 1139, 1150, and there may have beeneruptions in 1270, 1347, and 1500. The volcano erupted again in 1631, six times in the 18th century (especially in 1779 and1794), eight times in the 19th century (notably in 1872), and in 1906, 1929 and 1944. There has been no eruptions since1944, and none of the eruptions after AD 79 were as large or destructive as the Pompeian one. The eruption in AD 79 ledto the burying and destruction of the Roman cities of Pompeji and Herculaneum as well as several other settlements. Theeruption ejected a cloud of stones, ashes and volcanic gases to a height of 33 km, spewing molten rocks and pulverizedpumice at the rate of 6×105 cubic metres per second, ultimately releasing a hundred thousand times the thermal energy released by the Hiroshima-Nagasaki bombings. Vesuvio has erupted many times since and is the only volcano on theEuropean mainland to have erupted within the last hundred years. Today, it is regarded as one of the most dangerousvolcanoes in the world, because of the population of 3,000,000 people living nearby and its tendency towards violent,explosive eruptions of the Plinian type. It is the most densely populated volcanic region in the world ( Wikipedia). click on pictures to enlarge9.-13. October 2016HOME