S03.06 - Volcanoes and Human History Lateral facies variations in the 79 AD deposits at Pompeii Andrea Montanaro1, Claudio Scarpati1, Annamaria Perrotta1, Domenico Sparice1, Alberta Martellone2, Arianna Spinosa2, Massimo Osanna2 1Dipartimento di Scienze della Terra, dell’Ambiente e delle Risorse, Università di Napoli Federico II, Italy 2Parco Archeologico di Pompei, Italy The 79 AD eruption destroyed Pompeii and buried the town under almost six metres of pyroclastic materials. Pompeii was excavated in the last 270 years and most of the volcanic material was removed without any geological descriptions. For this reason, most of the recent (last 30 years) illustrations of the tephra succession refer to outcrops located outside the town walls. Almost one-third of the Pompeii area is still unexcavated. The boundary between excavated and unexcavated areas cut throughout the town and a 2.5 km thick front looms over the unburied buildings. To secure the excavation front a re-profiling of this front with gentle slopes is in progress. Excavations in the Regio V exposed several new astonishingly well preserved stratigraphic successions of the 79 AD deposits. Most of these logs are ephemeral and last few days to allow archaeologists to exhume roman artefacts. A systematic survey of all exposed pyroclastic sequence allowed us to study in detail the distribution and lateral facies variations of the different 79 AD stratigraphic units. The basal lapilli fall deposit shows a remarkable thickness variation ranging from 2.7 m to 4.5 m. Local overthickening are observed where pumice lapilli rolled on sloping roofs and accumulated in the alleys around the buildings. Even more pronounced lateral variations are observed in the upper part of the sequence, a mainly pyroclastic density current (PDC), stratified ash deposit, that ranges in thickness from few tens of centimetres to two metres. In this case thin, massive ash layers can be traced laterally into thick, poorly sorted, ash and lapilli layers, with well-developed sedimentary structures. Lateral facies distribution of the PDC deposits within Pompeii are influenced by urban structures (e.g. height, direction).

Lateral facies variations in the 79 AD deposits at Pompeii / Montanaro, Andrea; Scarpati, Claudio; Perrotta, Annamaria; Sparice, Domenico; Alberta, Martellone; Spinosa, Arianna; Osanna, Massimo. - 43:(2018), pp. 1156-1156. (Intervento presentato al convegno Cities on volcanoes 10 tenutosi a Naples, Italy nel 2-7 September 2018).

Lateral facies variations in the 79 AD deposits at Pompeii

MONTANARO, ANDREA
;
Claudio Scarpati;Annamaria Perrotta;Domenico Sparice;Arianna Spinosa;Massimo Osanna
2018

Abstract

S03.06 - Volcanoes and Human History Lateral facies variations in the 79 AD deposits at Pompeii Andrea Montanaro1, Claudio Scarpati1, Annamaria Perrotta1, Domenico Sparice1, Alberta Martellone2, Arianna Spinosa2, Massimo Osanna2 1Dipartimento di Scienze della Terra, dell’Ambiente e delle Risorse, Università di Napoli Federico II, Italy 2Parco Archeologico di Pompei, Italy The 79 AD eruption destroyed Pompeii and buried the town under almost six metres of pyroclastic materials. Pompeii was excavated in the last 270 years and most of the volcanic material was removed without any geological descriptions. For this reason, most of the recent (last 30 years) illustrations of the tephra succession refer to outcrops located outside the town walls. Almost one-third of the Pompeii area is still unexcavated. The boundary between excavated and unexcavated areas cut throughout the town and a 2.5 km thick front looms over the unburied buildings. To secure the excavation front a re-profiling of this front with gentle slopes is in progress. Excavations in the Regio V exposed several new astonishingly well preserved stratigraphic successions of the 79 AD deposits. Most of these logs are ephemeral and last few days to allow archaeologists to exhume roman artefacts. A systematic survey of all exposed pyroclastic sequence allowed us to study in detail the distribution and lateral facies variations of the different 79 AD stratigraphic units. The basal lapilli fall deposit shows a remarkable thickness variation ranging from 2.7 m to 4.5 m. Local overthickening are observed where pumice lapilli rolled on sloping roofs and accumulated in the alleys around the buildings. Even more pronounced lateral variations are observed in the upper part of the sequence, a mainly pyroclastic density current (PDC), stratified ash deposit, that ranges in thickness from few tens of centimetres to two metres. In this case thin, massive ash layers can be traced laterally into thick, poorly sorted, ash and lapilli layers, with well-developed sedimentary structures. Lateral facies distribution of the PDC deposits within Pompeii are influenced by urban structures (e.g. height, direction).
2018
Lateral facies variations in the 79 AD deposits at Pompeii / Montanaro, Andrea; Scarpati, Claudio; Perrotta, Annamaria; Sparice, Domenico; Alberta, Martellone; Spinosa, Arianna; Osanna, Massimo. - 43:(2018), pp. 1156-1156. (Intervento presentato al convegno Cities on volcanoes 10 tenutosi a Naples, Italy nel 2-7 September 2018).
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Utilizza questo identificativo per citare o creare un link a questo documento: https://hdl.handle.net/11588/723229
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