Mt.+Vesuvius

= Mt. Vesuvius = Location: Bay of Naples, Italy Type of Volcano: Stratovolcano, also known as a composite volcano Elevation above Sea Level: 1,350m Date of Discovery: 34 AD Dates of Eruptions: 70 A.D, 172, 203, 222, possibly 303, 379, 472, 512, 563, 685, 787, around 860, around 900, 968, 991, 999, 1006, 1037, 1049, around 1073, 1139, 1150, may have been eruptions in 1270, 1347, & 1500, erupted again in 1631, six times in the 18th century eight times in the 19th century, and in 1906, 1929, & 1944. There hasn't been an eruption since 1944. Number of Historical Eruptions: Four Positive effects: It made the soil very fertile Negative effects: Death, disturb traveling plans

= Our Volcano Sketch Articles about Mt. Vesvius Link #1- http://theitaliantribune.com/?p=1183 The eruption of Mt. Vesuvius in 79 A.D. didn't destroy it, nor did the bombing during World War II. In the end it was the forces of Mother Nature along with plain old fashioned neglect. On Saturday, November 6, 2010 Pompeii's ancient 2,000-year-old HOuse of the Gladiators collapsed into a mound of rubble. For some, this latest incident further highlights Italy's insufficient efforts to safeguard its many cultural treasures. The collapse of the house set off a political firestorm with the oppostion party calling for the resignation of Italy's culture minister, Sandro Bondi. Just days after the latest collapse, Bondi announced the government is to set up a new foundation for Pompeii. "The problem is with management and now resources," he told parliament, saying the ancient site brings in an average of more than 50 million euro ($70 million) a year. He added, "The ministry is therefore drafting guidelines for a Pompeii foundations and the superintendents and culture minister managers must work together." The state of decay of the site will be reassessed with work hopefully to resume on five houses, including the famous Villa of the Mysteries, within a short period of time. What is feared most is that should Pompeii be hard hit by an earthquake a complete restoration would not be feasible because no relief map has ever been made of the site. The Napels area, which hosts the ruins, is one of Italy's most earthquake-prone.

Link #2- http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2008048153_webscrolls13.html What's written on some of the ancient scrolls buried when Mount Vesuvius erupted in Italy in A.D. 79 is still a mystery, despite the best efforts of the director of MRI and radiology at Kadlec Medical Center in Richland. Dr. Edward Luliano wasn't able to decipher what they say using various scanning technologies, but the results let him hope for that may be a possibillity in the future. The extremely fragile papyrus scrolls make up the only surviving library from antiquity. Luliano preformed scans this week on scroll fragments using magnetic mammography unit, which both use X-ray technology. Tests reveal the chemical composition of the link also were done at the Environmental Molecular Sciences Laboratory at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory in Richland. Those test results aren't back yet. Luliano has been working with a University of Kentucky professor who's developing ways to virtually unwrap and decipher such ancient texts without handling them. Luliano plans to publish an academic article on the scans and said he wants to keep working on deciphering the scrolls.

Link #3- http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/6247573.stm Within 20km (12 miles) of it crater live almost three million people and everyone of them, say the geologists, is at risk. Their evidence comes from research, now completed, which shows that 4,000 years ago Vesuvius erupted with such ferocity that huge areas of land around the volcano were uninhabitable for decades. Geologist say the evidence that has been uncovered since 2001 should have encourages Italian authorities to change the evacuation plan they are rehearsing. Mr. Mastorlorenzo and his team took BBC News to a disused quarry not far from Naples where they have been busy collecting samples. It is the deposit of a Sonte Age eruptionm a cataclysmic, Plinian eruption, much bigger than the type that destroyed Pompeii in 79AD. When the volcano exploded, it sent a cloud of superheated dust and ash high into the stratosphere, which eventually collapsed over a radius of 25km (15 miles). Guido Betolaso is the head of vicil protection and in the past few months his team has been practising with residents and local authorities the evacuation routine. But experts say the evacuation plan should include Naples, and they believe people in the city are not prepared for what would unfold. But the dilemma that would face those implementing the plan is when to start their evacuation. In San Sebastiano, a town that was partially destroyed in 1944 by the lava from the last eruption, one elderly resident, Giuseppe, told BBC News he believed he would have plenty of time to go. But there will be no quick return if Vesuvius erupts as it did 4,000 years ago. When this next explosive, Plinian eruption comes this will not just be Campania and Italy's problem, it will be Europe's as well.

1/14/11- We got all of our supplies together and put our volcano together. 1/15/11 - 1/16/11- We let our volcano sit out so it could dry and the clay could harden. 1/17/11- We erupted our volcano.



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