![Top curves](../../../../jsp/jahia/templates/GSL/gsl_templates/img/keystage3/main_top_grad.gif)
Mount Vesuvius, Italy
Composite volcano
Height: 1281 m
Last eruption: 1944 – lava & pyroclastics. The famous “Plinian” eruption of AD 79 was much more violent, producing ash clouds and pyroclastic flows that destroyed the Roman towns of Pompeii and Herculaneum. Vesuvius lies within a caldera, the remains of an older and larger volcano (Monte Somma) that collapsed in a violent eruption about 17,000 years ago.
![Mount Vesuvius, Italy - C. Tripodi, Stromboli Online](../../../../webdav/site/GSL/shared/images/education_and_careers/RockCycle/Processes/Melting/Vesuvius1.jpg)
![Mount Vesuvius, Italy - Greg Grenne](../../../../webdav/site/GSL/shared/images/education_and_careers/RockCycle/Processes/Melting/Vesuvius2.jpg)
![Bottom curves](../../../../jsp/jahia/templates/GSL/gsl_templates/img/keystage3/bottom_curve.gif)