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Humans, Volcanoes, and Archeology: A seminar experience in Italy

For three weeks during the summer of 2016, Professor Tiziana Vanorio and students in a BOSP Overseas Seminar explored interactions between seismicity and volcanic activity in the Neapolitan Province, Southern Italy, and how these are interwoven with the engineering of Roman maritime concrete and the ancient trade routes across the Mediterranean. In this slideshow, Melanie Cahill, ’18, and Amara McCune, '18, share their experiences through photos and captions.

Group at Solfatara
To learn about the ongoing geologic activity in the region, the class visited the Solfatara crater, located near the outskirts of Pozzuoli. This crater is part of a network of vents famously known as the Phlegraean Fields - the Burning Fields. The Solfatara was thought by the Romans to be the home of Vulcan, the god of fire. Later on in the week, the group attended a jazz festival right inside the caldera, as part of a city-wide celebration.
Fumarole
The Solfatara crater, formed around 4,000 years ago, is still active and fumaroles (steam vents) can be seen releasing water vapor. The escaping gas is rich in sulphur, mercury and arsenic that precipitates onto the rocks creating bright orange minerals such as realgar and cinnabar. Sulphuric gasses release a strong smell, much like rotten eggs, in the crater but can also be smelled as far as the harbor.
Macellum
Jake Gold, '18, and Zach Birnholz, '18, admire the famous three columns of the Puteoli macellum, or marketplace, in downtown Pozzuoli. The columns serve as a 2,000 year-long record of the uplift and subsidence of the town being influential in helping Charles Lyell develop his Uniformitarianism theory at the beginning of the 19th century. As the sea levels rose and fell relative to the columns, tiny shellfish burrowed into the marble, marking the water height. Their remains could be later carbon-dated by scientists to create a timeline of elevation change.
Streets of Herculaneum
Students and faculty take a break while touring Herculaneum, an ancient Roman city destroyed in 79 A.D. in the eruption of nearby Mount Vesuvius at the same time as the more famous Pompeii. A pyroclastic flow of hot gas, ash, and rock fragments covered the town in a heartbeat as the inhabitants were burned to death instantly. Despite the tragedy of this destruction, the city was incredibly well preserved due to the ash flow coverage - even wood creations, papyrus rolls, and other organic-based objects survived being amazingly preserved by the volcanic ash flow. Above, we can see the cart-width road with a pedestrian sidewalk on either side. Unlike Pompeii, Herculaneum had a city-wide plumbing system that kept filth out of the streets.
Cistern
Professor Vanorio admires the vibrant colors produced by algae and moss growth as the class toured one of the largest freshwater cisterns built by the ancient Romans. This large chamber was supported by rows of arches, as seen, and would have held water to provide the Roman western imperial fleet at Portus Julius with drinking water. The water was transported from the Apennine mountains in the Roman aqueduct, a series of water channels in which water flow was controlled entirely by gravity.
Boat
During the second week of the seminar, the group woke up early and boarded a ferry to the nearby island of Capri. Shown is the group's boat tour around the island, which included a glimpse into a large grotto - a karst sea cave, which extends far into the carbonate cliff. The combination of the white rock and ocean phytoplankton gives the water in the cave an incredibly vivid blue-green color.
Crater of Vesuvius
Sierra Killian, '18, marvels at the crater of Mount Vesuvius. The group was able to take a walk around the rim, and even venture a few meters down the inner slope to feel the high geothermal gradient in the volcanic ash. The caldera was formed during the 79 A.D. eruption, when the tip of the volcano was blown off in a huge ash and pumice cloud which would quickly flow downhill and destroy the cities of Herculaneum and Pompeii. The eruption is thought to have created an ash cloud 21 miles high and ejected material at a rate of 1.5 million tons per second.
Underwater City
Troy Barnhart, '17, swims among the statues in the ruins of the Emperor Claudius' Villa, which now resides among schools of fish and a few coral outcrops. For centuries, Baiae served as a resort city for elite Romans, including Nero, Cicero, and Caesar. Plaques in multiple languages have been affixed to the sea floor so snorkelers may read about the unique archeological site they are exploring under the waves.
Tiziana Vanorio Receives Award
Students were fortunate to be able to attend the twentieth Civitas award ceremony in which Professor Vanorio was recognized for her scientific achievements in the field of geophysics. The ceremony took place within the iconic ancient macellum. Photo by Marina Sgamato
Vineyard Vines
The volcanic soil in the region of the Phlegraean Fields is rich in nutrients, such as potassium and phosphorous, and is able to retain water quite well due to its ash content. This makes it the optimal environment for growing grapes and making wine, which the group learned during their trip to a local vineyard.

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