The bedded layers at the right, near the town of Torre de Greco on the S flank of Vesuvius, are pyroclastic surge deposits from the Plinian Avellino eruption that occurred about 3,700 years ago. This eruption, one of eight major explosive eruptions since formation of the Monte Somma caldera, produced 2.9 km³ of tephra. Pyroclastic surges (1 km³) traveled down all sides of the volcano and as far as 22 km NW, covering an area now overlain by much of the city of Naples.

Photo by Roberto Scandone (University of Rome).

This image is made available under the Creative Commons BY-NC 4.0 license terms.

Galleries: Volcanic Outcrops

Keywords: deposit | outcrop | pyroclastic surge

Vesuvius