Coupled conduit and atmospheric dispersal dynamics of the AD 79 Plinian eruption of Vesuvius

Abstract The AD 79 eruption of Vesuvius is certainly one of the most investigated explosive eruptions in the world. This makes it particularly suitable for the application of numerical models since we can be quite confident about input data, and the model predictions can be compared with field-based reconstruction of the eruption dynamics. Magma ascent along the volcanic conduit and the dispersal of pyroclasts in the atmosphere were simulated. The conduit and atmospheric domain were coupled through the flow conditions computed at the conduit exit. We simulated two different peak phases of the eruption which correspond to the emplacement of the white and gray magma types that produced Plinian fallout deposits with interlayered pyroclastic flow units during the gray phase. The input data, independently constrained and representative of each of the two eruptive phases, consist of liquid magma composition, crystal and water content, mass flow rate, and pressure–temperature–depth of the magma at the conduit entrance. A parametric study was performed on the less constrained variables such as microlite content of magma, pressure at the conduit entrance, and particle size representative of the eruptive mixture. Numerical results are substantially consistent with the reconstructed eruptive dynamics. In particular, the white eruption phase is found to lead to a fully buoyant eruption plume in all cases investigated, whereas the gray phase shows a more transitional character, i.e. the simultaneous production of a buoyant convective plume and pyroclastic surges, with a significant influence of the microlite content of magma in determining the partition of pyroclast mass between convective plumes and pyroclastic flows.