|
||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||
Understanding of the volcano in longer terms is now beginning to thrive. It is known that eruptive cycles begin after repose periods that may last centuries to millennia, and their opening eruptions are devastatingly violent, Plinian events. The most famous one is the AD 79 eruption that has been so well described in the letters by the Pliny the Younger. In fact, it was his description that inspired volcanologists in the late 19th century to call eruptions like that of AD 79 "Plinian" eruptions. In this section, summarizing accounts of the known eruptions of Vesuvio are given. More important eruptions are described in some more detail. An emphasis is put on the volcanic hazards aspect, thus the descriptions here will serve as examples of what we have to expect from the volcano which has, for good reasons, been declared one of the fifteen "Decade Volcanoes" of the United Nations' International Decade of Natural Disaster Reduction (IDNDR). Information is available about List
of known Vesuvio eruptions |
||||||||||||||
Copyright
© Boris Behncke, "Italy's Volcanoes: The Cradle of Volcanology"
|
||||||||||||||
Page
set up in June 1995, last modified on 4 March 2000
|