Matt Bulow - Mount Vesuvius

When asked to visit a volcano, I could think of no other volcano to visit except Mount Vesuvius. It had such a historical eruption that wiped out the entire city of Pompeii in 79 AD. Unfortunately, the eruption ended up killing 2,000 people, but the volcanic ash preserved much of the city and even the bodies of the dead. This devastating eruption actually helped us understand a lot about the ancient way of life.

Now you may be thinking why would I want to go see such a deadly volcano? I have two reasons for doing so. First, I love history and as I said Mount Vesuvius had, in my opinion, the most historic eruption in history. Lastly, Mount Vesuvius happens to be the last remaining active volcano on the European mainland! That means it is an endangered species as far as European mainland volcanoes go.

What is so interesting about Mount Vesuvius is that it is a somma-stratovolcano. What is that you ask? Well technically its two different kinds of volcanoes, but Mount Vesuvius is sort of both types. A somma volcano is formed when a new volcano is formed within a volcanic caldera (kind of like a crater formed by a previous volcano). A stratovolcano is a cone shaped volcano that is made up of different layers of hardened lava, pumice, and ash. What makes Mount Vesuvius a somma volcano is that it is the newest central cone within the summit caldera of Mount Somma which is where somma volcanoes get their names. What makes Mount Vesuvius a stratovolcano is that it is cone shaped and made up of multiple layers of hardened lava and such as previously mentioned. How cool is that?!

Lucky for me there were no volcanic eruptions during my trip. It's last eruption was in 1944 during World War II which may seem like ancient history to some. I did hear a rumor though that it is due for an eruption soon which would be very problematic for the people that live in the surrounding area. How soon is soon though I do not  know. It truly amazes me on how something so beautiful can be so deadly. Until next time...

    -Matt