Earth Science Textbook Interdisciplinary Exploration Pompeii 1

, Exp , sh city . I was destroyed in om day ?

I lay buried tor centuries ?

is a window on Ancient Roman Ille ?

Nearly years ago , the city of Pompeii prospered on the fertile slopes near the volcano Vesuvius . About 100 kilometers north of Pompeii was the city of Rome . Pompeii was a small but popular trading center and site for luxury Roman villas . When Vesuvius erupted violently in AD . 79 , thousand of were caught unawares . Ash , hot gases , and rocks trapped and preserved this my and its inhabitants today , excavations at Pompeii reveal the daily life of a bustling city at the height of the Roman Empire . Ancient Ita in AD . 79

Studies Daily Life in Pompeii Excavations at Pompeii began in the and continue today The findings have been astounding . Life stopped abruptly that fateful day . Thousands abandoned their meals or left food simmering on the fire , A baker had just placed the day round loaves of bread in the oven . A jeweler left his work on a bench . Houses and public buildings that remained intact reveal daily life through frescoes ( wall paintings ) sculpture , mosaic floors , and expansive indoor courtyards . At the center of city life was the Forum . a large , rectangular open space where conducted business and politics . Here people sold meat and fish as well as fruits . vegetables , grapes . and olives grown on the slopes oi Vesuvius . Some merchants sold cloth made from the wool of ! sheep raised nearby . others said copper pots , oil mi ' lamps furniture and People of all classes Here the wife holds a stylus and wax ' and me , gathered at the Forum to exchange ideas , notices . and gossip , Some even wrote on the walls ! Bakery and Bread This , found in Pompeii , shows a man purchasing bread A carbonized of bread , below , indicates how bread was cut into wedges The Forum was central to life in Pompeii . Research another structure in Pompeii . Write a short report that describes its structure and function . Explain the building importance to Roman society Possible topics include amphitheater basilica I city walls public baths temples water system

I Science Vesuvius Erupts ! Most volcanoes and earthquakes occur along plate boundaries , where Earth crust is and weak . Unknown to the people of Pompeii , their city and surrounding areas rested directly over a subduction zone where the Eurasian plate meets the African plate . Although Mount Vesuvius had erupted in the past , the volcano had lain dormant for hundreds oi years . Around noon on August 24 , 79 , the volcano suddenly exploded . Volcanic ash and gases shot 27 kilometers into the air . During the rest of the day and into the night . meters of ash blanketed the city . But the destruction was over . Around midnight , a deadly pyroclastic flow poured over the entire area , trapping about who had not yet escaped . an additional meters of volcanic debris rained down on Pompeii . This layer of material sealed the city . preserving it 11 , up , a , nearly tor centuries . This eighteenth century painting is by Louis Jean Magma explodes from Pumice and ash blow The column of the vent in Mount southeast and tall on ash Vesuvius A column ol Pompeii . pumice and ash rises cover the region . Science Activity Different kinds of lava vary in silica content and How does the sand affect the molasses rate temperature and therefore spread at different at flow ?

What does the sand represent in your rates . Use molasses to model lava rates . model ?

How would a volcano with this type of . Measure one tablespoon ol molasses and ' slowly pour it onto a plastic plate , Time and . Heat one tablespoon of molasses over a hot record how long it takes for the molasses to plate Repeat Step I . How does the rate of stop spreading . flow of the heated molasses compare with that ol the molasses in Step ( air you conclude about the effect of temperature on the flow rate of . Add one tablespoon of sand to one tablespoon of molasses . Stir the mixture thoroughly , Repeat the pouring and timing of Step I . 246

Eyewitness Account the Younger ( around . was a nephew of the scholar and historian the Elder . when he was about years old . he witnessed the eruption of Mount Vesuvius while visiting a city across the bay from Pompeii . Some 25 years later , the Younger described the terrifying scene in a letter to the historian Tacitus . Excerpt from the letter to Tacitus , about ! I look back a dense cloud looms behind us , us like a poured across the land . A darkness came that was not like a moonless or cloudy night , but more like the black of closed and unlighted rooms . You could hear women lamenting , children crying , men shouting . Some were calling for parents . others for children or spouses . There were some so afraid of death that they prayed for death . It grew lighter , though that seemed not a return at day , but a sign that the fire was approaching . The lire itself actually stopped some distance away , but ' darkness and ashes came again . a great weight of them . We stood up and shook the ash off again and again , otherwise we would have been covered with it and crushed by the weight . At last the cloud thinned out and dwindled to no more than smoke or fog . Soon there was real daylight . The sun was even shining , though with the lurid glow it has after an eclipse . The sight that met our still terrified eyes was a changed world , buried in ash like A the Younger Language Arts Activity An eyewitness account is a firsthand , factual account of an event or experience . the Younger tilled his letter with vivid sensory that help the reader see , feel , smell , taste , and order to convey what the Vesuvius eruption was like . Choose an interesting event that witnessed . Write an eyewitness account of it . Provide readers with key , such as the time and place of the event , along with interesting and vivid details . Dog at Pompeii This is a plaster cast oi a dog left chained to a post during the eruption of Vesuvius