This week I decided to visit Mount Vesuvius! It was created 4.6 million years ago when the African plate sunk underneath the Eurasian plate, and later it reached the surface, attaching itself to the surface of Italy due to deposits from various eruptions. The slopes are covered with vineyards and orchards while if you go higher up the mountain, you will see oak and chestnut trees. On the northern side of the mountain along some slopes of Mount Somma, there are woods that go all the way to the summit. If you go to the western side, you'll see chestnut groves and various shrubs and small trees related to the pea family (broom). Higher up the slopes, you can see the slopes of the cone where the surface is pretty much barren. When the mountain is dormant, sometimes you can see tufts of meadow plants. Vesuvius has been both explosive and quiescent. The last eruption was in 1944. It erupted when a slab window built-up pressure due to the heat from the Earth's mantle layer melting rock of the African plate. There are various hazards associated with Mount Vesuvius. First, it has a pyroclastic flow, which is a current of fast-moving hot gas and volcanic matter (tephra).
Second, it has ash fall and lava flows. Mount Vesuvius has taken many lives throughout its history. Mount Vesuvius was running on a 20-year erupting schedule, but it has not erupted in 70 plus years, but it is an active volcano and will probably erupt again.
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