Mount Vesuvius

"Vesuvius" redirects here. For other uses, see Vesuvius (disambiguation).

Mount Vesuvius
Mount Vesuvius
Highest point
Elevation1,281 m (4,203 ft) Edit this on Wikidata
Prominence1,232 m (4,042 ft) Edit this on Wikidata
Coordinates40°49′17″N 14°25′34″E / 40.82139°N 14.42611°E / 40.82139; 14.42611
Naming
Native name
Geography
Mount Vesuvius is located in Italy
Mount Vesuvius
Mount Vesuvius
Campania, Italy
Map
Location in Vesuvius National Park
LocationCampania, Italy
Geology
Rock age25,000 years before present to 1944; age of volcano = c. 17,000 years to present
Mountain typeSomma–stratovolcano
Volcanic arc/beltCampanian volcanic arc
Last eruption17–23 March 1944
Climbing
Easiest routeWalk

Mount Vesuvius (/vɪˈsuːviəs/ viss-OO-vee-əs)[a] is a somma–stratovolcano located on the Gulf of Naples in Campania, Italy, about 9 km (5.6 mi) east of Naples and a short distance from the shore. It is one of several volcanoes forming the Campanian volcanic arc. Vesuvius consists of a large cone partially encircled by the steep rim of a summit caldera, resulting from the collapse of an earlier, much higher structure.

The eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 AD destroyed the Roman cities of Pompeii, Herculaneum, Oplontis, Stabiae and other settlements. The eruption ejected a cloud of stones, ash and volcanic gases to a height of 33 km (21 mi), erupting molten rock and pulverized pumice at the rate of 6×105 cubic metres (7.8×105 cu yd) per second.[5] More than 1,000 people are thought to have died in the eruption, though the exact toll is unknown. The only surviving witness account consists of two letters by Pliny the Younger to the historian Tacitus.[6]

Vesuvius has erupted many times since. It is the only volcano on Europe's mainland to have erupted in the last hundred years. It is regarded as one of the most dangerous volcanoes in the world because 3,000,000 people live near enough to be affected by an eruption, with at least 600,000 in the danger zone. This is the most densely populated volcanic region in the world. Eruptions tend to be violent and explosive; these are known as Plinian eruptions.[7]

  1. ^ "Vesuvio nell'Enciclopedia Treccani". treccani.it (in Italian). Retrieved 7 February 2021.
  2. ^ Grasso, Alfonso, ed. (2007). "Il Vesuvio" [Vesuvius]. ilportaledelsud.org (in Italian). Retrieved 8 February 2021.
  3. ^ Castiglioni, Luigi; Mariotti, Scevola (2007). Vocabolario della lingua latina : IL : latino-italiano, italiano-latino / Luigi Castiglioni, Scevola Mariotti; redatto con la collaborazione di Arturo Brambilla e Gaspare Campagna (in Italian) (4th ed.). Loescher. p. 1505. ISBN 978-8820166601.
  4. ^ "Vesuvio o Vesevius nell'Enciclopedia Treccani". treccani.it (in Italian). Retrieved 8 February 2021.
  5. ^ Woods, Andrew W. (2013). "Sustained explosive activity: volcanic eruption columns and hawaiian fountains". In Fagents, Sarah A.; Gregg, Tracy K. P.; Lopes, Rosaly M. C. (eds.). Modeling Volcanic Processes: The Physics and Mathematics of Volcanism. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. p. 158. ISBN 978-0521895439.
  6. ^ Cite error: The named reference epistularum was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  7. ^ McGuire, Bill (16 October 2003). "In the shadow of the volcano". The Guardian. Retrieved 8 May 2010.


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