Eruption Of Vesuvius Research Articles

The Lithic Component of Pyroclastic Deposits as a Proxy for the Reconstruction of the Syneruptive Evolution of Volcanic Conduits: The CE 79 Eruption of Vesuvius

AbstractDynamics of explosive eruptions is often strongly controlled by temporal changes in conduit geometry. Quantitative constraints to this problem are difficult to define, but basic information on the lithic fraction in pyroclastic deposits can be used as an input of numerical models to infer conduit and crater evolution in terms of shape and dimension. Field data on the 79 CE Pompeii eruption (Vesuvius, Italy) are used here to constrain depth‐dependent variations in conduit geometry. The different lithology of the accidental components, resulting from the erosion of a conduit/crater system crosscutting a well‐known subsurface stratigraphy, helps in defining the provenance depth of the eroded fragments. We reproduced the eruption evolution by considering three periods of the Plinian phase, associated with the white phonolitic pumice clasts (EU2a) and the tephro‐phonolitic gray pumice clasts (EU3a and EU3b). Results constrain the evolution of key eruptive parameters and are consistent with the estimates of mass discharge rate (MDR) and volume of eroded lithic fragments, which require the involvement of conduit geometries with depth‐dependent diameters rather than a constant‐radius shape. The onset of the Plinian phase (EU2a) was characterized by intense crater excavation processes. The MDR increase during the transition from EU2 to EU3 coincided with a significant increase of conduit diameter at bottom. After the peak of MDR (EU3b), a significant deeping of the fragmentation level and an abrupt inlet pressure drop probably occurred. Exit pressure and velocity would have decreased during all the Plinian phase, consistent with a shift to a collapsing column dynamics.

Raman imaging to quantify the thermal transformation degree of Pompeian yellow ochre caused by the 79 AD Mount Vesuvius eruption.

Most of the wall paintings from Pompeii are decorated with red and yellow colors but the thermal impact of 79 AD Mount Vesuvius eruption promoted the partial transformation of some yellow-painted areas into red. The aim of this research is to develop a quantitative Raman imaging methodology to relate the transformation percentage of yellow ochre (goethite, α-FeOOH) into red color (hematite, α-Fe2O3) depending on the temperature, in order to apply it and estimate the temperature at which the pyroclastic flow impacted the walls of Pompeii. To model the thermal impact that took place in the year 79 AD, nine wall painting fragments recovered in the archeological site of Pompeii and which include yellow ochre pigment were subjected to thermal ageing experiments (exposition to temperatures from 200 to 400 °C every 25 °C). Before the experiments, elemental information of the fragments was obtained by micro-energy dispersive X-ray fluorescence (μ-ED-XRF). The fragments were characterized before and after the exposition using Raman microscopy to monitor the transformation degree from yellow to red. The quantitative Raman imaging methodology was developed and validated using synthetic pellets of goethite and hematite standards. The results showed almost no transformation (0.5% ± 0.4) at 200 °C. However, at 225 °C, some color transformation (26.9% ± 2.8) was observed. The most remarkable color change was detected at temperatures between 250 °C (transformation of 46.7% ± 1.7) and 275 °C (transformation of 101.1% ± 1.2). At this last temperature, the transformation is totally completed since from 275 to 400 °C the transformation percentage remained constant.

Mobilizing Pompeii for Italian Silent Cinema

Abstract A documentary film about the eruption of Vesuvius in 1906 juxtaposes scenes of the damage and deaths it caused in neighbouring communities with shots of Pompeii — the ancient city of the long-since dead. The documentary suggests that Pompeii is a picturesque site where the privileged tourist experiences aesthetic detachment from the excavators’ labour or the locals’ suffering. Despite this critique, four Italian fiction films about the last days of Pompeii were made between 1908 and 1926. This article explores those films and argues that they mobilize Pompeii both for modern Italians and for cinema. They situate viewers immersively within the reconstructed city and substitute for a detached tourist gaze an impassioned, participatory one.

Pollen analysis of volcanic ash in Pompeian human skeletal remains

The time of the Vesuvius eruption, which perished Pompeii, Herculaneum and surrounding areas in ad 79, was initially set on the 24–25 August, based on written contemporary documents of the ancient historian Pliny the Younger. This date has been challenged by archaeologists and volcanologists/meteorologists, who moved the time of the eruption further into the autumn and eventually agreed to the final date 23–25 October. The October date has been confirmed by the latest discovery of inscriptions in freshly excavated areas of Pompeii suggesting the mid-late October eruption. In our original project of 2008 we attempted to solve the problem of the eruption time by analysing pollen mixed with falling down volcanic ash, and preserved intact in nasal cavities of the victims in Pompeii. The entire pollen spectrum, 31 different types, was evaluated with the focus on the exact time of the volcanic eruption. No date of eruption could be suggested from this study. The analysis revealed an unusually high amount of pollen from Hedera, an insect pollinated plant flowering from September to October in the area of Pompeii. Among three samples of ash from nasal cavities of two children and an adult considered uncontaminated Hedera pollen was found in noses of both children but not of the adult. This result is the first physical proof of Hedera as medicinal plant used for the treatment of respiratory tract disorders nearly 2000 years ago.

Mineralogical clustering of the structural mortars from the Sarno Baths, Pompeii: A tool to interpret construction techniques and relative chronologies

Abstract Structural mortars constitute one of the most diffuse geomaterials, with stones and bricks, in ancient monuments and architectural complexes, especially related to the Roman civilization, which pushed the binder technology to technical levels unsurpassed until post-industrial revolution times. The archaeometric study of mortars is an essential tool to extrapolate great amounts of information concerning supply of raw materials, technological skills of the ancient civilizations and, finally, relative and absolute chronologies of diachronic construction phases, both related to ancient and modern architectural modifications of the buildings. In this contribution, a novel approach for the quantitative mineralogical analysis of ancient mortars is proposed. The analytical process is based on the integrated application of quantitative phase analysis (QPA) of mineral components by means of the Rietveld method applied to X-ray powder diffraction (XRPD) data and multivariate statistical treatment of the obtained results by means of the principal component analysis. The methodology has been applied on a wide set of binding materials sampled from different structural elements of the Sarno Baths, a five-storey building located in the Pompeii archaeological site. The building is characterized by a marked complexity both in terms of structural layout and constructive techniques, being the result of several modifications in ancient times from the Late Republican age up to the Vesuvius eruption in 79 AD. Furthermore, several poorly documented restorations have been performed between the 19th century and the first half of the 20th century AD. In this perspective, a quantitative characterization of the employed mortars resulted useful not only to define ancient constructive technologies and relative chronologies, but also to discriminate between the original and restored parts of the building for the execution of adequate restoration procedures. The statistical clustering of the quantitative XRPD data clearly defined two ancient constructive phases and allowed a precise definition of the structural elements rebuilt in recent times. Furthermore, the obtained results have been cross-checked with additional analyses, namely XRD analyses on the separated binder fractions, petrographic analyses and scanning electron microscopy-energy-dispersive microanalyses. Such multi-analytical approach allowed the detailed characterization of the employed raw materials, of the pozzolanic reactions between binder and aggregate and of the textural and microstructural characteristics of the mortars. The data interpretation yielded interesting insights both on the advanced optimization of mix designs of binding materials in Roman times, to improve the structural properties of the architectural elements according to their functions, and on the formulation of the restoration products during the historic excavations in Pompeii.

The last garum of Pompeii: Archaeozoological analyses on fish remains from the “garum shop” and related ecological inferences

AbstractThis study represents the first detailed archaeozoological analysis on garum remains from Pompeii. It aims to contribute to our knowledge of activities connected to garum in one of the most celebrated centres of production in the Mediterranean by osteoarchaeological, taphonomical, and ecological analyses. One place for the production and sale of this fish sauce was located in the urban perimeter of the town, the so‐called “garum shop”, buried by the pyroclastic deposits of the Vesuvius eruption in 79 AD. After a short summary about the nature, role and origin of garum, and its production processes, a description of the state of the art about garum production in Pompeii is summarized to assess the issue. The analyses undertaken on the remains found in an amphora from the “garum shop” show that the production of at least one kind of garum in Pompeii was obtained using individuals of picarels (Spicara smaris) as the fundamental ingredient. The state of preservation of the fish remains indicates that the picarels were not subject to any intense process of movement or compression that could have caused breakage at fragile points of the fish skeletons; it is therefore deduced that the product was still in the maceration stage awaiting the final process when the Pompeii destruction happened. The study revealed that the picarels were left to macerate whole; they were neither decapitated nor filleted. The osteoarchaeological and ecological analyses revealed the age of death, the sex, and the season when the fish was caught contributing to define the fishing techniques, the production processes, and the period of the year when the volcanic destruction happened.

FEAR AND HEALING: SENECA, CAECILIUS IUCUNDUS, AND THE CAMPANIAN EARTHQUAKE OF 62/63ce

The earthquake of 62/63cewas a catastrophic event for Pompeii and Campania. The destruction and death toll were extensive and it is clear that the city of Pompeii was still recovering and rebuilding when the eruption of Vesuvius happened. This article takes into consideration the mental and emotional damage that the earthquake caused and the way in which Seneca and the archaeological record help us to perceive strategies of consolation and therapy. Seneca discusses this earthquake in Book 6 of hisNaturales quaestionesand hopes to lead his reader from the shock of the earthquake to a more comprehensive understanding of the physical causes of the tremor. The cultural memory of events not witnessed directly (such as Seneca's write-up of the Pompeii earthquake) makes us all survivors and ‘turn[s] history into a memory in which we can all participate’. If trauma ‘spreads via language and representation’, Seneca wants to limit what exactly is traumatic about this event and employs his creative rhetoric to do so. His account demonstrates how Stoic physics and ethics are connected and moves the reader from his or her fear of earthquakes to the fear of death at the root of the anxiety. Seneca carefully alters the valence of certain terms as well as selected memories of the earthquake to encourage his reader to transcend his or her fear and view earthquakes as natural occurrences, not anomalies to be dreaded. He does this through strategies identified in modern trauma theory as useful for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and this article investigates how contemporary trauma theory can help us understand aspects of Seneca's remedy. Seneca's repetitions of certain events and terminology works to reassess and renovate them from a philosophical angle – in essence it turns potential ‘flashbacks’ and ‘triggers’ into beneficial sites of memory and the means of recovery. Survivors often relive the trauma again and again – Seneca's work alludes to this, but now makes the victim actively revise how to make such iterations part of the recovery.

Review: Pliny the Elder and the Emergence of Renaissance Architecture, by Peter Fane-Saunders

Peter Fane-Saunders Pliny the Elder and the Emergence of Renaissance Architecture New York: Cambridge University Press, 2016, 491 pp., 8 color and 75 b/w illus. $142 (cloth), ISBN 9781107079861 Although De architectura is celebrated as the only architectural treatise to have come down from antiquity, its author, Vitruvius, was not the most gifted of writers, and his text was challenging for Renaissance readers. Leon Battista Alberti famously criticized Vitruvius: “What he handed down was in any case not refined … his very text is evidence that he wrote neither Latin nor Greek, so that as far as we are concerned he might just as well not have written at all, rather than write something that we cannot understand.”1 In fact, Vitruvius was not the only ancient author to address architectural topics. Foremost among other ancient writers who discussed architecture was Pliny the Elder. As Peter Fane-Saunders reveals in his expansive study Pliny the Elder and the Emergence of Renaissance Architecture , originating from his doctoral dissertation, Pliny's Natural History was also an invaluable source to Italian Renaissance investigators, second only to De architectura written a century earlier. Although Pliny's writings have been long recognized as a key source for Renaissance artistic practice, the degree to which Pliny's writings permeated the architectural culture of the period remains surprisingly unexplored.2 Fane-Saunders redresses this shortfall by surveying the key significance of Pliny for Renaissance authors and practitioners. In his introduction and chapter 1, Fane-Saunders situates Pliny's work among classical authors, introduces his encyclopedic text, and considers its early reception. Pliny completed his Natural History in 77 AD, just two years before he perished during the eruption of Vesuvius. In thirty-seven books, Pliny attempted a thorough discussion of the wonders of the natural world, including those of the Mediterranean as well as the Near East and India. The text remained well regarded throughout the Middle …

The buried caldera boundary of the Vesuvius 1631 eruption revealed by present-day soil CO2 concentration

Volcanic risk at Vesuvius is one of the highest in the world due to the ~670,000 inhabitants living in the Red Zone, the area exposed to both pyroclastic flows and tephra fallout, to be evacuated before renewal of any eruptive activity. The national emergency plan for Vesuvius builds its risk zonation on a scenario similar to the last sub-Plinian eruption, which occurred in 1631. This study aims at providing new insights on the geometry of the caldera associated with this historical eruption. The impact of past Vesuvius eruptions on present-day soil CO2 concentration has been investigated by means of an extended geochemical survey carried out for identifying the circulation pathways of hydrothermal fluids inside the volcano. We performed 4018 soil CO2 concentration measurements over the whole Somma-Vesuvius volcanic complex, covering an area of 50 km2. Besides relatively low values, the results show a significant spatial CO2 concentration heterogeneity over Somma-Vesuvius ranging from the atmospheric value (~400 ppm) up to ~24,140 ppm. The summit of Vesuvius shows an area with anomalous CO2 concentrations well matching the crater rim of the 1906 eruption. Along the cone flanks, secondary CO2 anomalies highlight a roughly circular preferential pathway detected along 8 radial profiles at distances between ~840 m and ~1150 m from the bottom of the present-day crater resulting from the last eruption in 1944. In depth review of the available literature highlights an agreement between this circle-like shaped anomaly and the 1631 sub-Plinian eruption caldera boundary. Indeed, based on the historical chronicles the depression produced by the 1631 eruption had a diameter of 1686 m, whereas the CO2 circular anomaly indicates a diameter of 1956 m. Finally, the results were compared with a 3-D density model obtained from a recent gravity survey that corroborates both the literature and the CO2 data in terms of potential buried structure at the base of the Vesuvius cone.

The late-antique eruption of Vesuvius in A.D. 472 and its impact from the Bay of Naples to Aeclanum

The eruption of A.D. 79 has long dominated archaeological discourse on Vesuvius. Other eruptions, both earlier and later, have received less attention but are no less valuable from an archaeological point of view.1 Those eruptions deposited distinctive volcanic materials often easily identifiable in the stratigraphic record, thereby providing dated termini ante quos, which can in turn offer a snapshot of life around the volcano in different periods. The eruption of A.D. 79 provides just such an horizon for 1st-c. A.D. Campania; the earlier ‘Avellino pumices eruption’ does the same for the Bronze Age.2 By tracking the volcanic deposits that can be tied to such events, the situation on the ground prior to the eruptions can be examined, as can the ways in which communities and landscapes reacted to, and recovered from, them.

From the Waters to the Plate to the Latrine: Fish and Seafood from the Cardo V Sewer, Herculaneum

The excavation of an ancient sewer in the town of Herculaneum, Italy, provided the opportunity to study Roman diet in the Bay of Naples, including the marine component. The sewer served an apartment block which was buried by the eruption of Vesuvius in AD 79 and retained human and kitchen waste of the non-élite individuals living above. The remains showed a high degree of dietary diversity with around 70 fish, 48 marine mollusc and three marine arthropod taxa being identified. The fish were mostly small individuals which were probably netted in fairly shallow, coastal waters. The marine invertebrates included species of sandy shores, rocks and the sea bed but the majority could have been collected very close to the water’s edge. Both the fish and the shellfish would have been available locally in large quantities and probably represented cheap and nutritious dietary fare. Some of the consumed fish was probably salted (salsamenta) or fermented (as fish sauces such as garum), but it is thought that most of the fish and shellfish originated in the Bay of Naples and would have been purchased fresh. The difficulty of identifying preserved fish within the mixed sewer assemblage is discussed.

In-situ garnet 238U-230Th geochronology of Holocene silica-undersaturated volcanic tuffs at millennial-scale precision

Abstract Radioisotopic dates for Late Pleistocene to Holocene silica-undersaturated volcanic rocks are often imprecise, limiting our ability to assess the frequency of eruptions in alkaline volcanic provinces, evaluate related volcanic risk and date associated archaeological sites. Here, we present a new approach to dating alkaline volcanic rocks employing 238U-230Th disequilibrium dating of Ca-rich garnet phenocrysts by laser ablation inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (LA-ICPMS). We document analytical protocols and apply this technique to date magmatic garnets from the 472 AD Pollena eruption of Vesuvius (Southern Italy) and from the Engare Sero Footprint Tuff, a volcaniclastic unit attributed to Oldoinyo Lengai (Northern Tanzania). Garnet phenocrysts from the Pollena phonolite yield a well-defined U-Th isochron with a date of 2.28 ± 0.71 ka (1σ) that is indistinguishable from the historical date and suggests that garnet crystallized close to eruption with a pre-eruption residence time of less than 1.6 kyr. Garnets from the Engare Sero Footprint Tuff yield a U-Th isochron date of 4.91 ± 0.58 ka (1σ). This date is compatible with 14C and 40Ar/39Ar dates that bracket tuff deposition to between ∼5 and ∼19 ka but confidently constrains the age of the Engare Sero Footprint Tuff to the mid-Holocene. These examples demonstrate the potential of this new approach for dating Late Pleistocene to Holocene silica-undersaturated volcanic rocks at millennial-scale precision and for investigating magma chamber processes beneath active alkaline volcanoes.

Trachy-phonolite lava pebbles used in the ancient settlement of Oplontis (Torre Annunziata, Naples): petrochimical data supporting the origin from an old effusive activity of the Somma-Vesuvius volcano

In the southern and south-eastern sectors of Somma-Vesuvius volcano (Campania region, southern Italy), archaeological sites covered by the deposits of A.D. 79 Vesuvius eruption, and dating back to Protohistoric and Roman periods are characterized by the presence of numerous lava pebbles used in the human settlements. In this work we present the new case study of the lava samples found with other materials used in building foundations of the Roman site of Oplontis (the “ Villa of Poppea” or “Villa A” or Oplontis A ; and the ancient commercial structure of Oplontis B ). This new data set of lava pebbles of different lithologies was also compared with that of the archaeological site of Longola, in order to unravel the source provenance from distinct evolutionary phase of the Somma-Vesuvius volcano. According to major and trace elements composition, lava pebbles are all compatible with the Somma-Vesuvius magmas erupted before 8 ka BP and are represented, according to modal mineralogy and whole-rock geochemistry, by two groups belonging to the slightly silica undersaturated series: several basic-intermediate lithotypes (mainly phonolitic tephrites to basaltic trachyandesites) and trachy-phonolites . Despite the obvious abundance of volcanic rock pebbles, as the settlements were built on the Somma-Vesuvius volcano, the trachy-phonolite lava pebbles do not match with any lithostratigraphic units mapped in the up-to-now available literature data. Nevertheless, the trachy-phonolite lava pebbles show (i) a comagmatic relationships with the products erupted by Somma-Vesuvius before 8 ka BP as pyroclastic products (i.e. pumices) and (ii) a good petrological affinity with lava trachyte ejecta included within the Plinian eruptions preceding the A.D. 79 event. The basic-intermediate and the trachy-phonolite lava pebbles from both the sites of Oplontis and Longola, have to be interpreted as an old effusive activity of the Somma-Vesuvius. In order to form lava pebbles, reworking could have taken place both on the original lava flows/autoclastic breccias or the lithic lava fragments of pyroclastic/breccia deposits produced by the explosive events preceding the A.D. 79 eruption.

Knowledge, conservation and technologies: a research project on the streets of Ancient Pompeii

The recent conclusion of a challenging project on surveying and monitoring the conservation status of the archaeological site of Pompeii was an opportunity to build a database of information about the city buried by the Vesuvius eruption in 79 A.D. The use of the most modern detection technologies (laser scanners, drones, etc.) has allowed to reach such degrees of accuracy as to open new perspectives of research on urban history.The survey, in fact, has returned in detail for the first time the compositional geometries and the weaving of the blocks of the ancient roadmap of the site. In this perspective it seems interesting to systematise the new data and those from the archaeological excavations, also recent, on one of the most fascinating themes of the history of Pompeii: the forma urbis of the city, the chronology of the roads and the great work of monumentalisation consisting in their realization in stone blocks.Therefore, on the basis of the study on the streets of Pompeii from a usage continuity perspective in the two phases of their life (the ancient, pre-eruption, and the modern, post-excavation), the research project that is illustrated aims to increase the levels of knowledge of the site, through the analysis of the techniques and the constituent materials, the definition of the relative chronology about the realization of the various stretches, the assessment of the conservation status. This also in order to identify appropriate management tools and appropriate strategies for the protection of such assets.The project, for its implementation, will use: study of the construction typologies, surveys aimed to acquire knowledge of the constituent materials, observation of the stratigraphic relations between the different road sections, pre-eruption and post-excavation historical analysis.The data that emerge will be integrated with excavation surveys, aimed at verifying chronologies and stratigraphic layers; they will be complemented by the results of the excavation of the alley between the Insulae 2 and 3 of the Regio V of Pompeii, to be executed, to return an undisturbed sample for study, both from the point of view of the geometries and of the techniques and the constituent materials.

A revisit of the role of gas entrapment on the stability conditions of explosive volcanic columns

Explosive volcanic eruptions produce high-velocity turbulent jets that can form either a stable buoyant Plinian column or a collapsing fountain producing pyroclastic density currents (PDC). Determining the source conditions leading to these extreme regimes is a major goal in physical volcanology. Classically, the regime boundary is defined as the critical eruptive mass discharge rate (MDR) before collapse for a given amount of free gas in the eruptive mixture (free gas + pyroclasts) at the vent. Previous studies have shown that an agreement between theory and field data can be achieved in two different frameworks: (i) by accounting for the effect of gas entrapment in large pumice fragments, which lowers the effective gas content, depending on the total grain-size distribution (TGSD) of pyroclastic fragments, or (ii) by accounting for the reduction of turbulent entrainment at the base of the volcanic column due to its negative buoyancy. Here, we aim at combining these two using a 1D model of volcanic column that includes sedimentation to follow the evolution of the TGSD. In powerful (≥ 107 kg s−1) Plinian eruptions, the loss of particles by sedimentation acts as to decrease the load of particles during the plume rise, which favors the formation of a stable column. In this case, we obtain that coarse TGSD promote the formation of stable plumes, a result at odds with the predictions of models considering gas entrapment in large pyroclastic fragments. To interpret this conclusion, we reconsider the effect of gas entrapment and show that in general, it has a dominant role on column collapse compared to particle sedimentation, and hinders the formation of buoyant columns. This drastic effect is reduced when incorporating open porosity, e.g. by considering that some bubbles inside a fragment are connected to the exterior. The characteristics of the PDC produced by column collapse are then predicted as a function of the TGSD and MDR at the source. We further test the model using two well-documented historical events, the ≈186 CE Taupo and 79 CE Vesuvius eruptions. Our model predictions are consistent with the Taupo eruption record, but not with the Vesuvius one. In this latter case, we suggest that the characteristics of the TGSD imply to take into account the thermal disequilibrium between gas and pyroclasts.

Thermal interactions of the AD79 Vesuvius pyroclastic density currents and their deposits at Villa dei Papiri (Herculaneum archaeological site, Italy)

Pyroclastic density currents (PDCs) can have devastating impacts on urban settlements, due to their dynamic pressure and high temperatures. Our degree of understanding of the interplay between these hot currents and the affected infrastructures is thus fundamental not only to implement our strategies for risk reduction, but also to better understand PDC dynamics. We studied the temperature of emplacement of PDC deposits that destroyed and buried the Villa dei Papiri, an aristocratic Roman edifice located just outside the Herculaneum city, during the AD79 plinian eruption of Mt Vesuvius (Italy) by using the thermal remanent magnetization of embedded lithic clasts. The PDC deposits around and inside the Villa show substantial internal thermal disequilibrium. In areas affected by convective mixing with surface water or with collapsed walls, temperatures average at around 270 °C (min 190 °C, max 300 °C). Where the deposits show no evidence of mixing with external material, the temperature is much higher, averaging at 350 °C (min 300 °C; max 440 °C). Numerical simulations and comparison with temperatures retrieved at the very same sites from the reflectance of charcoal fragments indicate that such thermal disequilibrium can be maintained inside the PDC deposit for time-scales well over 24 hours, i.e. the acquisition time of deposit temperatures for common proxies. We reconstructed in detail the history of the progressive destruction and burial of Villa dei Papiri and infer that the rather homogeneous highest deposit temperatures (average 350 °C) were carried by the ash-sized fraction in thermal equilibrium with the fluid phase of the incoming PDCs. These temperatures can be lowered on short time- (less than hours) and length-scales (meters to tens of meters) only where convective mixing with external materials or fluids occurs. By contrast, where the Villa walls remained standing the thermal exchange was only conductive and very slow, i.e. negligible at 50 cm distance from contact after 24 hours. We then argue that the state of conservation of materials buried by PDC deposits largely depends on the style of the thermal interactions. Here we also suggest that PDC deposit temperatures are excellent proxies for the temperatures of basal parts of PDCs close to their depositional boundary layer. This general conclusion stresses the importance of mapping of deposit temperatures for the understanding of thermal processes associated with PDC flow dynamics and during their interaction with the affected environment.

In-situ experimental campaign on the covering structures of “Villa dei Misteri” in Pompeii

The archaeological site of Pompeii is located near modern Naples in the Italian region of Campania. As known, the ancient Roman city was mostly destroyed and buried under 4–6 m of ash and pumice in the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 AD, and it remained covered until the beginnings of archaeological excavations during the second half of the XVIII century. Today, it is an UNESCO World Heritage Site and one of the most visited archaeological sites in the world. With the aim preserving a unique archaeological heritage, the Pompeii Archaeological Park is directing various projects which involve many scientists and expertise. Within this ambit of activity, ENEA has analysed the health state of the modern covering structures of Villa dei Misteri, an exceptionally well-preserved domus enriched by many precious frescoes. To qualify a standard analysis procedure applicable to similar roofing typologies, very common in the archaeological site of Pompeii, a methodology based on a multidisciplinary approach has been developed. This paper is focused on the in-depth diagnostic campaign carried out on the roof structures of the Peristylium, where both timber and reinforced concrete beams have been completely analysed. The campaign has been conducted in two subsequent steps: visual and geometrical survey and then in-situ non-destructive tests for the material characterisation. On the basis of the resulting data, a visual classification has been performed and very useful information for mechanical characterisation has been collected. Finally, a proposal of restoration intervention has been suggested.

Pompeii’s Stabian Baths. Mechanical behavior assessment of selected masonry structures during the 1st century seismic events

ABSTRACTThe eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 AD buried and preserved the Stabian Baths building in the exact configuration which the archaeological excavations carried out in the second half of the 19th century recovered. By combining archeologists’ studies with the analysis of deformations and cracking pattern due to the 1st century seismic events, in this article numerical models have been formulated which allowed the formation of some hypotheses coherent on the timeline of the events, the damage to as well as the change of the shape and stylistic language of the thermal building. Specifically, through global seismic analyses and kinematic analyses of masonry portions of the “destrictarium” block, it is proven that during the 1st century not only a sole catastrophic earthquake occurred but, at least, two important seismic events took place.The purpose of this article is to identify and parameterize the responsible earthquake by the analysis of seismic effects detectable in the damages and archaeological remains of the masonry walls of the Stabian Baths. The identification of the earthquake and the grading of provoked damages represent a useful knowledge tool that provides information about the vulnerability of ancient buildings and can be suitably used also to safeguard architectural heritage from seismic risk.

Development and decline of the ancient harbor of Neapolis

AbstractArchaeological excavations, undertaken since 2004 for the construction of the new Naples subway, have unearthed the harbor basin of the Greco–Roman town of Parthenope–Neapolis, furnishing scientists with the opportunity to recover abundant archaeological remains and a thick succession of diverse infill sediments. The latter underwent sedimentological, paleontological, and volcanological analyses. Compositional data analysis, applied to all three data sets, highlighted three main paleoenvironmental changes in the harbor basin from the Augustan Age up to the 6th century A.D. The beginning of harbor activity is recorded during the 3rd century B.C. when sedimentation was interrupted by intensive dredging of the sea‐bottom. The impact of the A.D. 79 Vesuvius eruption, recorded for the first time in the Neapolitan territory, led to a reduction in Posidonia meadows and to an ensuing phase of more restricted water circulation and pollution. At the beginning of the 5th century A.D., an open lagoon environment was established, attesting to coastal progradation. The final closure of this part of the bay occurred at the end of the 5th to the beginning of the 6th century A.D., due to increased alluvial input linked to both natural and anthropogenic causes.

Visions of Volcanoes

The long nineteenth century marked an important transition in the understanding of the nature of combustion and fire, and of volcanoes and the interior of the earth. It was also a period when dramatic eruptions of Vesuvius lit up the night skies of Naples, providing ample opportunities for travellers, natural philosophers, and early geologists to get up close to the glowing lavas of an active volcano. This article explores written and visual representations of volcanoes and volcanic activity during the period, with the particular perspective of writers from the non-volcanic regions of northern Europe. I explore how the language of ‘fire’ was used in both first-hand and fictionalized accounts of peoples’ interactions with volcanoes and experiences of volcanic phenomena, and see how the routine or implicit linkage of ‘fire’ with ‘combustion’ as an explanation for the deep forces at play within and beneath volcanoes slowly changed as the formal scientific study of volcanoes developed. I show how Vesuvius was used as a ‘model’ volcano in science and literature and how, later, following devastating eruptions in Indonesia and the Caribbean, volcanoes took on a new dimension as contemporary agents of death and destruction.