• Title/Summary/Keyword: Pliny letter

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Volcanological Interpretation of Historic Record of AD 79 Vesuvius eruption (베수비오 화산의 79년 분화 기록에 대한 화산학적 해석)

  • Eun Jeong Yang;Sung-Hyo Yun
    • Journal of the Korean earth science society
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    • v.44 no.2
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    • pp.148-160
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    • 2023
  • The Pliny Letter, the first historical record of volcanic eruptions and disasters on Earth, was studied to better understand the Vesuvius' eruption patterns in 79 AD. The two-day eruption, which began at 1 a.m. on August 24th 79 AD, produced large amounts of volcanic ash and pumice, which were carried by the wind and fell on nearby cities. Furthermore, during the eruption, fast-moving pyroclastic flows flowed down the volcano's sides, and several phenomena such as earthquakes and tsunamis occurred. Cities near Mount Vesuvius were buried and destroyed by volcanic ash and pyroclastic flows. Previous studies were collected, analyzed, and investigated and the scope of damage was chosen from Pompeii, Herculaneum, Stabiae, and Oplontis. The sedimentary stratigraphy and thickness vary according to location and distance from Vesuvius in each region. Within the depositional layers, the remains of residents who died during the eruption were also discovered, and 1,150 remains have been discovered in Pompeii, 306 in Herculaneum, 111 in Stabiae, and 54 in Oplontis, but the exact number of people who killed is unknown. The eruption that exhibited the pattern seen in AD 79 was named the Plinian eruption after Pliny and classified as a new type of eruption as a result of Pliny's detailed description of the eruption.