Vesuvius
eklemetti | August 24, 2010
The Doctor fights off a magma creature in Pompeii.
Now, most of the time I talk about why I started this blog, I talk about the eruption of Chaiten in Chile as the catalyst. However, if you look back at my archives, you'll see that one of my first posts was on the Doctor Who episode "The Fires of Pompeii" - so that might also be a good marker to point to on why I started this blog. Why do I bring this up? Well, Pompeii gets mentioned a couple times in the first few seasons of the revived Doctor Who. First off, when the Doctor meets Capt. Jack Harkness (a time-traveling huckster), Capt. Jack…
eklemetti | April 28, 2010
An undated painting of the island volcano of Ischia near the Bay of Naples, Italy.
Guess what? It is the end of the semester (well, school year) here at Denison, so I might be a little busy for the next couple weeks.
Here are some news bits (with special thanks to all who emailed me some of these links):
Boris might have more information or opinion on this, but Italy is back in the news concerning the threat of volcanism to the country. This time the volcano is Ischia, off the coast in the Bay of Naples. Guido Bertolaso of Italy's civil protection agency is quoted as saying that the "magma…
eklemetti | April 16, 2010Hard to believe, but there is other volcano-related news in the world ...
So, with all deference to Eyjafjallajokull, here it is:
Dome collapse on Colima in Mexico, image taken March 30, 2010.
The new Smithsonian/USGS GVP Weekly Volcano Activity Report was issued, with news about increasing signs of activity at Egon in Indonesia, a possible plume at Miyakejima in Japan and more dome growth at Soufriere Hills.
A study on the economic effect of a new Vesuvius eruption was released and the finding show the potential for a staggering $24 billion of economic damage directly related to an…
eklemetti | December 4, 2009Its already Friday!
News!
Print of the Temple of Jupiter at Pompeii with a steaming Vesuvius in the background.
You can now wander down the streets of ancient Pompeii from the comfort of your own home or office. Google Streetview now cover the streets of the city wiped out by the 79 A.D. eruption of Vesuvius in Italy. Now, some of the articles on the Pompeii streetview give lipservice to the current threat of Vesuvius to the modern city of Naples, my favorite being:
The authorities continually monitor Vesuvius these days, and estimate they'll be able to give adequate warning if it's ever in…
eklemetti | November 26, 2009Here is Part 2 of the Q&A with Dr. Boris Behncke. You can also check out Part 1.
Undated image of Stromboli in eruption.
(Shirakawa Akira) 1. Would a large scale eruption (VEI 5 or greater) of Mt. Etna like the ones occurred in 122 BC and 1500 BC (disputed) be possible again in the foreseeable future? Or is the volcano slowly "dying" although the last eruption ended in July 2009 has been one of the longest ever recorded?
2. Not really related to volcanism, but close: does INGV plan to distribute seismic data from seismic stations of its Rete Sismica Nazionale, including stations from…
eklemetti | November 24, 2009First off, I want to thank Dr. Behncke for taking the time to answer your questions - and also, thank you to all who sent him some thought-provoking questions. In fact, the questions and answers take up about 12 pages of text, so the Q&A will be divided into two parts.
If you want to see one of the previous in the Q&A series, check out:
Dr. Jonathan Castro.
Question and Answer with Dr. Boris Behncke of the Italian National Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology in Catania.
Dr. Boris Behncke.
Questions for Dr. Boris Behncke
(Bernard Duyck) Qu'en est-il de l'évolution du mécanisme…
eklemetti | November 18, 2009It has been a slow week for volcano news (and a busy week for me), so I apologize for the abundance of MVPs this week. I've tried to find a good one in the many images submitted to me by Eruptions readers, and #15 is just one of those photos. If you have images you'd like to share with me for MVP or other uses, please email them to me at
. (However, I should note that you can't win by identifying your own volcano photo!)
MVP #13 was Lava Butte near Newberry volcano in Oregon. It is a lovely small scoria cone that you can walk/drive to the summit. From there, you get a spectacular view of the…
eklemetti | October 29, 2009The first Q&A with Dr. Jonathan Castro was such a success, I'm going to try to make this a regular feature. On that note, Eruptions reader Dr. Boris Behncke has volunteered to be the second geologist to take the plunge. Here is a little about Boris and his work:
I've studied geology first in Bochum, Germany, then finished my Master's in Kiel, Germany (in 1996), before hopping south to Catania, where I did my Ph.D. in 2001. I live in Sicily since early 1997, but first visited the Italian volcanoes in 1989, and happen to be at Etna when it produced a spectacular eruption just on schedule.…
eklemetti | September 15, 2009There are a couple article out today concerning volcanoes and the economy, one on the plus side, one on the minus side.
Volcano Buono in Italy near Naples.
First off, nothing like volcanism to get me stoked for buying stuff, eh? Actually, I have to admit, the Volcano Buono mall (yes, mall) in Italy near Naples (and yes, near Vesuvius) is one of the rather more attractive malls I've seen in a long time (above). It is designed to look like a volcano - I suppose it looks most like a monogenetic scoria cone, a little out of place for that part of Italy - but its design was based on trying use…
eklemetti | September 2, 2009The move is complete (finally) ... so maybe I can settle down a bit, right? Right?
The world's deadliest volcano?
Anyway, a few things I stumbled across this week:
Forbes Traveler.com has a list boldly titled "World's Deadliest Volcanoes", which more or less is a slideshow of nice volcano pictures and some dubious ranking - mostly based on death toll (and cribbing a bit from IAVCEI's "Decade Volcanoes"). Of course, I find it amusing that they made a list of "deadliest volcanoes" and then proceed to tell people (read "tourists") what to do near the so-called "deadly" volcanoes. I suppose it…
eklemetti | June 7, 2009The latest in my Volcano Profiles Series, we turn to Europe and Vesuvius. You could fill many, many volumes with the works produced on Vesuvius since Roman times. This profile will barely scratch the surface when it comes to the vast geologic and human history surrounding the volcano, but it is a start. If you want to learn more about the archaeology surrounding Vesuvius, try visiting Blogging Pompeii.
VOLCANO PROFILE: MT. VESUVIUS
Mt. Vesuvius in Italy. Image courtesy of Dario Leone.
Location: Italy
Height: 1,281 m / 4,203 ft
Geophysical location: The tectonics in the Mediterranean are…
eklemetti | May 10, 2009Things were relatively quiet, volcanically speaking, over the weekend and that reminded me, it is just about time to vote on the next in my Volcano Profile series. We've had two volcanoes featured so far: Rabaul in Papua New Guinea and Hood in Oregon. Take a look at the list below and vote for the next in the series!
What would you like to see as the next "Volcano Profile"?(opinion polls)
eklemetti | April 5, 2009
Ulawun Volcano, Papau New Guinea, one of the "Decade Volcanoes"
There was some discussion earlier about the so-called "Decade Volcanoes", so I thought I'd elaborate a bit on them (doubly so in light of certain other lists.) These volcanoes are defined by IAVCEI - the International Association of Volcanology and the Chemistry of the Earth's Interior - and are part of a program whose aim is
"to direct attention to a small number of selected, active volcanoes world-wide and to encourage the establishment of a range of research and public-awareness activities aimed at enhancing an…
eklemetti | December 11, 2008
Sometimes I wonder if we know more about the fates of people who died in a volcanic eruption over 1800 years ago than we do about most people who died in any given eruption this year. Not that there is anything particularly wrong with that - we're fascinated by both volcanoes and Roman antiquity - but the level of detail done for the victims of Vesuvius in 79 A.D. is stunning.
Considering that this blog got started (to an extent) thanks to our cultural obsession with Pompeii, I thought it fitting to post a bit about a recent report on the last moments of a family in Pompeii. Nothing really…
eklemetti | September 29, 2008
The Discovery Channel brings us a story on how the exact (well, semi-exact if you read the article) date for the 79 A.D. eruption of Vesuvius has been nailed down by dating, well, fish sauce. The findings? The records of antiquity were right, it was probably around August 24, 79 A.D. and if you get to page 2, you'll find that the researchers - workers at the Pompeii's Applied Research Laboratory - say the fish sauce dates the eruption to somewhere in mid-August to mid-September. Why is this important? Recent archeological studies at Pompeii found a coin that dates to October of 79 A.D., so…
eklemetti | September 16, 2008
For those of us who track volcanoes and the hazards they present, the general consensus is that Mount Vesuvius in Italy is probably the most dangerous volcano in the world today. This is not because it is the biggest or most powerful, but because it is located on the outskirts of Naples, Italy, a city with over 2 million inhabitants (including the surrounding area). Evacuating such an area quickly and efficiently during a time of crisis might be, well, impossible. We know that Vesuvius can be destructive - just look at the fact that much of the Naples area is built on the deposits of the…
eklemetti | May 3, 2008
So, this isn't exactly about current eruptions, but I was able to watch the new (well, to the U.S.) Doctor Who episode centered around the 79 A.D. eruption of Mt. Vesuvius. Now, to me, this was two of my favorite things (volcanoes and Doctor Who) fuses into one, and while I enjoyed it, it wasn't my favorite thing ever.
SPOILERS AHEAD!
The premise is that the Doctor and Donna accidently end up in Pompeii the day before the volcano erupts and buries the city in pyroclastic flows and ash fall. Of course, there is more than that going on. We find all sorts of nasty alien-related things going on…