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Eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 AD

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File:Pompeii the last day 1.jpg
Computer-generated imagery of the Mount Vesuvius eruption.
Vesuvius erupting, painting by Norwegian painter J. C. Dahl, 1826

In the year of 79, Mount Vesuvius erupted in one of the most catastrophic and famous eruptions of all time. The Roman vicinities of Pompeii, Herculaneum and Stabiae were in devastation,[1] and Pompeii and Herculaneum were obliterated.[1][2] Mount Vesuvius spawned a deadly cloud of stones, ash and fumes to a height of 20.5 miles, spewing molten rock and pulverized pumice at the rate of 1.5 million tons per second, ultimately releasing a hundred thousand times the thermal energy released by the Hiroshima bombing.[2][3]

Since systematic excavations began in Pompeii in 1860, diggers have uncovered within the city limits the petrified-ash shells of the decomposed bodies of 40 victims.[3] historians discovered that the vicinity was obliterated by pyroclastic flows.[3][4] Pliny the Younger, a Roman administrator and poet, was the author of an account of the eruption, which was successful in rendering its nature.[4]

Characteristics

Pliny the Younger authorized an account of the eruption —

Broad sheets of flame were lighting up many parts of Vesuvius; their light and brightness were the more vivid for the darkness of the night... it was daylight now elsewhere in the world, but there the darkness was darker and thicker than any night.[5]

An estimated 16,000 citizens in the Roman vicinities of Pompeii and Herculaneum perished due to hydrothermal pyroclastic flows at temperatures up to 700 ºC (1292 ºF).[6][7][8]

  1. ^ a b Randy Alfred (2011-02-04). "Aug. 24, A.D. 79: Vesuvius Buries Pompeii". Wired.
  2. ^ a b Daniel Mendelsohn (2003-12-21). "The Age of Aquarii". The New York Times. Retrieved 2011-02-04.
  3. ^ a b c "Science: Man of Pompeii". Time. 1956-10-15. Retrieved 2011-02-04.
  4. ^ a b Andrew Wallace-Hadrill (2010-10-15). "Pompeii: Portents of Disaster". BBC History. Retrieved 2011-02-04.
  5. ^ "The Eruption of Mount Vesuvius, 79 AD". BBC. 2007-10-29. Retrieved 2011-02-04.
  6. ^ Lindsey Doermann (2010-12-27). "Top 10 worst eruptions of all time". Cosmos. Retrieved 2011-02-04.
  7. ^ Daniel Williams (2004-10-13). "Scientists Keep Tabs on Pulse of Mount Vesuvius". Washington Post. Retrieved 2011-02-04.
  8. ^ Raphael Kadushin (2003-09-13). "Pompeii and circumstance: what was hiding in the ruins". Orlando Sentinel. Retrieved 2011-02-03.
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