Volcanoes: What They are and What They Teach

by John W. Judd

But, although the general tendency of the action going on at volcanic mountains is to increase their height and bulk by the materials falling upon their summits and aides, it must be remembered that this action does not take place by any means continuously and regularly. Not only are there periods of rest in the activity of the volcano, during which the rain and winds may accomplish a great deal in the way of crumbling down the loose materials of which volcanic mountains are largely built up, but sudden and violent eruptions may in a very short time undo the slow work of years by blowing away the whole summit of the mountain at once. Thus, before the great eruption of 1822, the cone of Vesuvius, by the almost constant ejection of ashes during several years, had been raised to the height of more than 4,000 feet above the level of the sea; but by the terrible outburst which then took place the cone was reduced in height by 400 feet, and a vast crater, which had a diameter of nearly a mile, and a depth of nearly 1,000 feet (see [fig. 13]), was formed at the top of the mountain. The enormous quantity of material thus removed was either distributed over the flanks of the mountain, or, when reduced to a finely comminuted condition, was carried by the wind to the distance of many miles, darkening the air, and coating the surface of the ground with a thick covering of dust.

Fig. 13.—Crater of Vesuvius formed during the eruption in 1822. (It was nearly 1 mile in diameter and 1,000 ft. deep.)

EARLY HISTORY OF VESUVIUS.

The volcano of Vesuvius, although of somewhat insignificant dimensions when compared with the grander volcanic mountains of the globe, possesses great interest for the student of Vulcanology, inasmuch as being situated in the midst of a thickly populated district and in close proximity to the city of Naples, it has attracted much attention during past times, and there is no other volcano concerning which we have so complete a series of historical records. The present cone of Vesuvius, which rises within the great encircling crater-ring of Somma, has a height of about 1,000 feet. But there is undoubted evidence that this cone, to the top of which a railway has recently been constructed for the convenience of tourists, has been entirely built up during the last 1,800 years, and, what is more, that during this period it has been many times almost wholly destroyed and reconstructed.

Nothing is more certain than the bet that the Vesuvius upon which the ancient Romans and the Greek settlers of Southern Italy looked, was a mountain differing entirely in its form and appearance from that with which we are familiar. The Vesuvius known to the ancients was a great truncated cone, having a diameter at its base of eight or nine miles, and a height of about 4,000 feet. The summit of this mountain was formed by a circular depressed plain, nearly three miles in diameter, within which the gladiator Spartacus, with his followers, were besieged by a Roman army. There is no evidence that at this time the volcanic character of the mountain was generally recognised, and its slopes are described by the ancient geographers as being clothed with fertile fields and vineyards, while the hollow at the top was a waste overgrown with wild vines.

Fig. 14.—Crater of Vesuvius in 1756. (From a drawing made on the spot)

But in the year 79 a terrible and unexpected eruption occurred, by which a vast, crateral hollow was formed in the midst of Vesuvius, and all the southern side of the great rim surrounding this crater was broken down. Under the materials ejected during this eruption, the cities of Pompeii, Herculaneum, and Stabiæ were overwhelmed and buried.

Numerous descriptions and drawings enable us to understand how in the midst of the vast crater formed in the year 79 the modern cone has gradually been built up. Fresh eruptions are continually increasing the bulk, or raising the height of the Vesuvian cone.