When was mount vesuvius formed

He is best known for his debaucheries, political murders, persecution of Christians and a passion for music that led to the probably He shrewdly combined military The son of a great military leader, he escaped family intrigues to take the throne, but his Greek philosophy and rhetoric moved fully into Latin for the first time in the speeches, letters and dialogues of Cicero B. A brilliant lawyer and the first of his family to achieve Roman office, Cicero was one of the Julius Caesar was a renowned general, politician and scholar in ancient Rome who conquered the vast region of Gaul and helped initiate the end of the Roman Republic when he became dictator of the Roman Empire.

Despite his brilliant military prowess, his political skills and his The Roman politician and general Mark Antony 83—30 B. His romantic and political In B. He then marched his massive army across the Pyrenees and Alps into central Italy in what would be remembered as one of the most By the time the First Punic War broke out, Rome had become the dominant power throughout the Italian Live TV.

This Day In History. History Vault. Life in Pompeii Greek settlers made the town part of the Hellenistic sphere in the 8th century B. Mount Vesuvius The Vesuvius volcano did not form overnight, of course.

Recommended for you. Coroner's Report: Pompeii. The Visigoths Sack Rome. Games in the Colosseum. The first stage of eruption featured a blast that sent pumice stones thousands of feet into the air.

These stones then fell like rain upon the surrounding towns, steadily burying them for roughly 5 hours. As the rocks continued to fall, they grew in size, and for the next few hours, they caused buildings and structures to collapse.

The second stage of the eruption occurred about 17 hours later when a ferocious pyroclastic flow poured from the volcano, covering Pompeii and Herculaneum in a thick layer of smouldering debris in a matter of minutes.

The dust over the towns and cities began to settle after a day of relentless volcanic bombardment. Brilliantly preserved until now The remains of Pompeii lay in an impressive state of preservation for over 1, years until they were uncovered in the 18th-century. Since their excavation, human interference and natural weathering have led to their decline.

Archaeologists are concerned for the future preservation of the site and Pompeii is recognised by the World Monuments Fund; an organisation dedicated to the preservation of historic architecture.

With much of Pompeii and nearby Herculaneum still lying hidden under the volcanic debris, there will still be remnants of the cities in existence for many years to come, but it is not certain how much of the already excavated artefacts will remain. Much of what is left uncovered may remain so for many years to preserve the remnants of the ancient cities. Herculaneum is now buried under the city of Ercolano and, though they have demolished parts of the town to enable excavations in the past, it is unlikely to be uncovered soon.

Who knows what treasure or secrets of the past are waiting to be discovered! Violent eruptions in the late s, s and early s created more fissures, lava flows, and ash-and-gas explosions. These damaged or destroyed many towns around the volcano, and sometimes killed people; the eruption of had more than casualties. The most recent eruption was in during World War II. It caused major problems for the newly-arrived Allied forces in Italy when ash and rocks from the eruption destroyed planes and forced evacuations at a nearby airbase.

Her concentration is in volcanology, and she is currently researching lava dome collapses and pyroclastic flows. She also writes the Magma Cum Laude blog , and in what spare time she has left, she enjoys rock climbing and playing various stringed instruments.

Simplified plate tectonics cross-section Simplified plate tectonics cross-section showing how Mount Vesuvius is located above a subduction zone formed where the African plate descends beneath Italy.

Map: Where is Vesuvius? Plaster casts: Victims of the 79 A. Ruins at the ancient city of Pompeii Brick columns stand among ruins of the ancient city of Pompeii. Did You Know? The 79 AD eruption of Vesuvius is why volcanologists use "Plinian" to describe large volcanic eruption clouds. Pliny the Younger, a Roman historian who witnessed the 79 AD eruption, wrote the oldest surviving description of the tall, tree-shaped cloud that rose above the volcano.

Modern volcanologists use the term to describe large-volume, violent eruptions that produce quickly-expanding clouds of rock, ash and gases which rise many miles into the atmosphere. Some more recent examples of Plinian eruptions include Mount St. Helens in and Pinatubo in Here is Pliny's description Its general appearance can be best expressed as being like an umbrella pine, for it rose to a great height on a sort of trunk and then split off into branches, I imagine because it was thrust upwards by the first blast and then left unsupported as the pressure subsided, or else it was borne down by its own weight so that it spread out and gradually dispersed.

Sometimes it looked white, sometimes blotched and dirty, according to the amount of soil and ashes it carried with it. Gates, A. Wortel, M. Review full text upon subscription. Mount St. Find Other Topics on Geology.