Mt Vesuvius
17-10-2023
1 min read
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Overview:
Recently, researchers deciphered an ancient scroll buried in the ashes of Mount Vesuvius with the help of artificial intelligence.
About Mt Vesuvius:
- It is an active volcano that rises above the Bay of Naples on the plain of Campania in southern Italy.
- It is the only active volcano in mainland Europe.
- The volcano is classified as a complex stratovolcano because its eruptions typically involve explosive eruptions as well as pyroclastic flows.
- A pyroclastic flow is a high-density mix of hot lava blocks, pumice, ash and volcanic gas.
- It is most famous for the 79 AD eruption which destroyed the Roman cities of Pompeii and Herculaneum.
- It is part of the Campanian volcanic arc, a line of volcanoes that formed over a subduction zone created by the convergence of the African and Eurasian plates.
- This subduction zone stretches the length of the Italian peninsula, and is also the source of other volcanoes like Mount Etna, the Phlegraean Fields (Campi Flegrei), Vulcano, and Stromboli.
- Under Vesuvius, the lower part of the subducting slab has torn and detached from the upper part to form what is called a "slab window."
- This makes Vesuvius' rocks slightly different chemically from the rocks erupted from the other Campanian volcanoes.
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Q1) What are Tectonic plates?
Tectonic plates are massive, rigid pieces of the Earth's lithosphere (the outermost shell of the Earth) that cover the planet's surface like a jigsaw puzzle. These plates are responsible for the movement and shaping of the Earth's crust and play a fundamental role in the geological processes that shape our planet.
Source: Researchers 'virtually unwrapped' ancient scrolls charred by Mt Vesuvius in 79 AD