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Pompeii: the duration of pyroclastic currents generated by the eruption of Vesuvius in 79 AD has been determined

A research on the effects of the pyroclastic flows of the 79 AD eruption on Pompeii highlighted how their duration had a tragic impact on the population

About fifteen minutes was the duration of the pyroclastic currents that hit Pompeii during the eruption of Vesuvius in 79 AD: the volcanic ashes, inhaled by the inhabitants, were fatal, causing asphyxiation.
This is what reveals the study “The impact of pyroclastic density currents duration on humans: the case of the AD 79 eruption of Vesuvius”, conducted by the University of Bari – Department of Earth and Geo-environmental Sciences, in collaboration with the Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia (INGV) and the British Geological Survey of Edinburgh. The study has just been published ‘Scientific Reports’.
“The aim of the work”, says Roberto Isaia, senior researcher of the Vesuvian Observatory of the INGV “was to develop a model to try to understand and quantify the impact of pyroclastic flows on the inhabited area of Pompeii”.

The inhabited area around Vesuvius volcano in a 3D perspective view from West; DTM overlaid with digital color orthophoto (Laboratory of Geomatics and Cartography, INGV-OV)

Pyroclastic flows, in fact, are the most devastating phenomenon of the so-called explosive eruptions. Comparable to avalanches, they are generated by the collapse of the eruptive column. The resulting dense pyroclastic flows flow along the slopes of the volcano at speeds of hundreds of kilometers per hour, at high temperatures and with a high particles concentration.
“During our research”, continues Isaia, “we carried out filed and laboratory studies of the pyroclastic deposits recognized within the archaeological excavations of Pompeii which led to the measurement and definition of the physical-mechanical parameters of the rocks. The obtained data have been used as input parameters for a mathematical model that has allowed us to carry out numerical simulations. From these we obtained the physical parameters of the pyroclastic currents and, therefore, the effects on the territory, including people, have been estimated. The main result is that the persistence of the flow of pyroclastic currents took place over a period of time between 10 and 20 minutes”.

Pyroclastic deposits within the Pompeii inhabited area including stratified layer with tractional structures formed by the Pyroclastic Density Currents

“The developed model” adds the researcher, “can also be applied to other active volcanoes around the world,. The example of Pompeii in fact, about 10 km far from Vesuvius, suggests how the use of this model could be very valuable for understanding the duration of pyroclastic flows and, therefore, the damage deriving from an eruption even at distances where the temperature and the pressure of the pyroclastic currents no longer causes harmful effects on humans and the environment. The applied methodology can therefore provide new elements of knowledge in the context of the hazard assessment of an active volcanic structure “, concludes Roberto Isaia.
“It is very important to be able to reconstruct what happened in the past eruptions of Vesuvius starting from the geological record, in order to trace the characteristics of the pyroclastic currents and the impact on population” declares Professor Pierfrancesco Dellino of the University of Bari, referent for the sector volcanic activity of the Commissione Grandi Rischi nazionale. “The adopted scientific approach in this study reveals information that are contained by the pyroclastic deposits and that clarifies new aspects of the eruption of Pompeii and provides valuable insights for interpreting the behavior of Vesuvius also in terms of civil protection”.

Briefly

Who: Università degli Studi di Bari, Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia (INGV) e British Geological Survey, Edinburgh (UK)
What: A model was developed that allowed to calculate that in Pompeii the persistence of the passage of pyroclastic currents occurred in a period of time between 10 and 20 minutes, causing lethal effects on its inhabitants.
Where: The research The impact of pyroclastic density currents duration on humans: the case of the AD 79 eruption of Vesuvius in ‘Scientific Reports’.
Link: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-021-84456-7

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Abstract
Pyroclastic density currents are ground hugging gas-particle flows that originate from the collapse of an eruption column or lava dome. They move away from the volcano at high speed, causing devastation. The impact is generally associated with flow dynamic pressure and temperature. Little emphasis has yet been given to flow duration, although it is emerging that the survival of people engulfed in a current strongly depends on the exposure time. The AD 79 event of Somma-Vesuvius is used here to demonstrate the impact of pyroclastic density currents on humans during an historical eruption. At Herculaneum, at the foot of the volcano, the temperature and strength of the flow were so high that survival was impossible. At Pompeii, in the distal area, we use a new model indicating that the current had low strength and low temperature, which is confirmed by the absence of signs of trauma on corpses. Under such conditions, survival should have been possible if the current lasted a few minutes or less. Instead, our calculations demonstrate a flow duration of 17 min, long enough to make lethal the breathing of ash suspended in the current. We conclude that in distal areas where the mechanical and thermal effects of a pyroclastic density currents are diminished, flow duration is the key for survival.

Press release from the Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia (INGV)

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Discovered a correlation between earthquakes and carbon dioxide in the Apennines

The analysis of ten years of sampling of CO2 dissolved in the groundwaters of the Apennines showed its maximum concentration during intense seismic activity

terremoti anidride carbonica Appennino — Strong free CO2 emission associated with groundwater discharge (San Vittorino plain, Rieti). The emission is located about 30 km far from the epicentre of the April 2009 L’Aquila earthquake.

In the Apennine chain, the emission of CO₂ of deep origin appears to be well correlated with the occurrence and evolution of the seismic sequences of the last decade. This is the result of the study ‘Correlation between tectonic CO₂ Earth degassing and seismicity is revealed by a ten-year record in the Apennines, Italy‘ conducted by a team of researchers from the Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia (INGV, Italy) and the University of Perugia (UNIPG, Italy) just published in ‘Science Advances’.

“For the first time an analysis of geochemical and geophysical data collected from 2009 to 2018 was carried out“, explains Giovanni Chiodini, INGV researcher and coordinator of the study. “Results of this research have shown a correspondence between deep CO₂ emissions and seismicity. In periods of intense seismic activity, peaks in the deep CO₂ flux are observed, meanwhile they dampen when the seismic energy and the number of earthquakes decrease“.

The Earth releases CO₂ of deep origin mainly from volcanoes, although these emissions also occur in seismic areas where there are no active volcanoes. In particular, this phenomenon is more intense in regions characterized by extensional tectonics, such as the area of the Apennines.

“Although the temporal relationships between the occurrence of a seismic event and the release of CO₂ are not yet fully understood“, continues Chiodini, “In this study we hypothesize that the evolution of seismicity in the Apennines is modulated by the rise of CO₂ accumulated in crustal reservoirs and produced by the partial melting of the plate subducting beneath the mountain chain“.

The continuous large-scale production of CO₂ at depth favors the formation of overpressurized reservoirs. “Seismicity in mountain ranges”, add Francesca Di Luccio and Guido Ventura, INGV researchers and co-authors of the study, “could be related to the depressurization of these reservoirs and the consequent release of fluids which, in turn, activate the faults responsible for earthquakes“.

The study was conducted by sampling the high-flow rate springs (tens of thousands of liters per second) located in the vicinity of the epicentral areas of the earthquakes that occurred in central Italy between 2009 and 2018. “These samplings allowed us to characterize the origin of the CO₂ dissolved in the water of the aquifers and to quantify the amount of the dissolved deep CO₂“, explains Carlo Cardellini, researcher of the Department of Physics and Geology of the University of Perugia, co-author of the discovery.

“The close relationship between the CO₂ release and the number and magnitude of the earthquakes, along with the results of previous seismological surveys, indicate that the earthquakes in the Apennines occurred in the last decade are associated with the rise of deeply derived CO₂. It is worth mentioning that the amount of CO₂ involved is of the same order as that emitted during volcanic eruptions (approximately 1.8 million tons in ten years)”, concludes Chiodini.

Therefore, the results of the study provide evidence on how the fluids derived from the decarbonation of a subducting plate play an important role in the genesis of earthquakes, opening new horizons in the assessment of CO₂ emissions at global scale. Finally, this work demonstrates and supports how the modern study of earthquakes requires a multidisciplinary approach in which geochemical, geophysical and geodynamic data need to be integrated.

earthquakes carbon dioxide Apennines — The Apennine earthquakes during 2007-2019 (including the destructive events of 2009 and 2016) were accompanied by evident peaks in the amount of CO2 dissolved and transported by the large Apennine water springs (tonnes per day of CO2 in the diagram)

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Abstract

Deep CO 2 emissions characterize many non-volcanic, seismically active regions worldwide and the involvement of deep CO 2 in the earthquake cycle is now generally recognized. However, no long-time records of such emissions have been published and the temporal relations between earthquake occurrence and tectonic CO 2 release remain enigmatic. Here we report a ten-year record (2009-2018) of tectonic CO 2 flux in the Apennines (Italy) during intense seismicity. The gas emission correlates with the evolution of the seismic sequences: peaks in the deep CO 2 flux are observed in periods of high seismicity and decays as the energy and number of earthquakes decrease. We propose that the evolution of seismicity is modulated by the ascent of CO 2 accumulated in crustal reservoirs and originating from the melting of subducted carbonates. This large scale, continuous process of CO 2 production favors the formation of overpressurized CO 2 -rich reservoirs potentially able to trigger earthquakes at crustal depth.

Press release on the correlation between earthquakes and carbon dioxide in the Apenninesfrom the Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia and the University of Perugia.

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