Categories > Celebrities > 30 Seconds to Mars > The Volcanologist
The Truth of Pompeii A.D.79
0 reviewsAs the main eruption of Vesuvius ends, the team are surprised to discover 3 people have died. Shannon shares his interesting knowledge of the eruption of A.D.79 when they go to the hospital to help...
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We viewed the bodies expecting to see some gruesome sight, but they looked normal. There wasn't a single burn, only small scratches on their bodies where they fell. We call Dannielle in (she didn't want to see bad burns) telling her its alright.
Our translator is here too. He translates from the doctor, "There is no evidence of deadly injury. The blood gases came back clear."
There was no sulphur dioxide present in their lungs when they died? How strange. But it leads me to my next question.
"There was no sulphur dioxide in the lungs or bloodstream. What about the regular blood gases? Oxygen? Carbon Dioxide?"
"Oxygen saturation was lower."
"Please run an x-ray on their lungs, scans, or whatever, to show us pictures inside their lungs as clearly as possible."
As we wait for the results, we drink a much needed coffee. Dannielle and Luke ask what my theory is. They haven't heard it before. They don't know how people really died in Pompeii in A.D.79. I tell them a little bit to keep them interested, and tell them I'll keep the rest after we get the x-ray results.
"The pyroclastic cloud was not the cause of death in the eruption of A.D.79. Nor was it lava or gas poisoning."
They are intrigued. Luckily I had researched the most popular volcanoes when my fascination began when I was a child. Vesuvius and the destruction of Pompeii was one of them.
It takes about 2 hours for the x-rays to come back. The doctor clips them to the board and switches the light on. It immediately confirms my beliefs.
"What on earth is that?" he asks pointing to the rare marks on the lungs - marks that should not be there. The translator asks me, but I can pick up the tone in the Italian doctor's voice. He had never seen it before. None of us had until now.
"Its true!" I say to the others, who now want to hear the rest of the story. "Its cement. They have cement in their lungs."
They all want to know how, so I carefully explain. In the eruption that buried Pompeii before, people were not instantly killed. Instead, 3 breaths would kill them, and believe me when I say they suffered. Breath number one: they would inhale hot gas and ash causing their lungs to fill with fluid, which would feel as though they had swallowed fire. Breath number 2: they would inhale more ash, which would create a wet cement mix. Breath number 3 would thicken the cement, and then they would suffocate. It was only after that, that the pyroclastic flow swept through Pompeii, concealing everyone in the thick plaster in the exact position they had died in.
It was no wonder the doctor could not find the cause of death. Even with an autopsy, he had not thought to look inside their lungs or organs.
We request another copy of the x-rays for our files before we return to our hotel room. Looking at the mountain, everything is once again quiet. The harmonic tremors have calmed down, though not completely stopped. The ash cloud has gone, and only light grey smoke rises from the crater now. But there is so much ash still in the air, and until it clears, we cannot go in the helicopter to view the crater. Although, we can see from here that the side of the crater facing Pompeii has collapsed. The lava is cooling on the sides of the mountain.
We go up to the crater in the middle of January, it took a few weeks for the ash to completely clear. Once again, Luke makes a video. Dannielle makes notes of the crater, and the damage in particular.
Vesuvius has calmed down since the large eruption, but Plinian eruptions can last anything from days to months. The volcano was still restless. We were still getting readings of minor tremors. Even if it had unloaded a bulk of the attack, it may not be over just yet. Needless to say we are nervous to be up here today.
We are brought back down. Its a while before we realise where we are standing. We are standing on the ruins of Pompeii. We collect the regular samples - the earth now covering Pompeii, pumice that was thrown from Vesuvius - before we return home once again.
And once again, I send a message to the teams to let them know the current state of the volcano: "Activity of Vesuvius has decreased significantly since violent eruption, but is still restless. Area should now be marked as YELLOW ALERT - ADVISORY until further notice."
Our translator is here too. He translates from the doctor, "There is no evidence of deadly injury. The blood gases came back clear."
There was no sulphur dioxide present in their lungs when they died? How strange. But it leads me to my next question.
"There was no sulphur dioxide in the lungs or bloodstream. What about the regular blood gases? Oxygen? Carbon Dioxide?"
"Oxygen saturation was lower."
"Please run an x-ray on their lungs, scans, or whatever, to show us pictures inside their lungs as clearly as possible."
As we wait for the results, we drink a much needed coffee. Dannielle and Luke ask what my theory is. They haven't heard it before. They don't know how people really died in Pompeii in A.D.79. I tell them a little bit to keep them interested, and tell them I'll keep the rest after we get the x-ray results.
"The pyroclastic cloud was not the cause of death in the eruption of A.D.79. Nor was it lava or gas poisoning."
They are intrigued. Luckily I had researched the most popular volcanoes when my fascination began when I was a child. Vesuvius and the destruction of Pompeii was one of them.
It takes about 2 hours for the x-rays to come back. The doctor clips them to the board and switches the light on. It immediately confirms my beliefs.
"What on earth is that?" he asks pointing to the rare marks on the lungs - marks that should not be there. The translator asks me, but I can pick up the tone in the Italian doctor's voice. He had never seen it before. None of us had until now.
"Its true!" I say to the others, who now want to hear the rest of the story. "Its cement. They have cement in their lungs."
They all want to know how, so I carefully explain. In the eruption that buried Pompeii before, people were not instantly killed. Instead, 3 breaths would kill them, and believe me when I say they suffered. Breath number one: they would inhale hot gas and ash causing their lungs to fill with fluid, which would feel as though they had swallowed fire. Breath number 2: they would inhale more ash, which would create a wet cement mix. Breath number 3 would thicken the cement, and then they would suffocate. It was only after that, that the pyroclastic flow swept through Pompeii, concealing everyone in the thick plaster in the exact position they had died in.
It was no wonder the doctor could not find the cause of death. Even with an autopsy, he had not thought to look inside their lungs or organs.
We request another copy of the x-rays for our files before we return to our hotel room. Looking at the mountain, everything is once again quiet. The harmonic tremors have calmed down, though not completely stopped. The ash cloud has gone, and only light grey smoke rises from the crater now. But there is so much ash still in the air, and until it clears, we cannot go in the helicopter to view the crater. Although, we can see from here that the side of the crater facing Pompeii has collapsed. The lava is cooling on the sides of the mountain.
We go up to the crater in the middle of January, it took a few weeks for the ash to completely clear. Once again, Luke makes a video. Dannielle makes notes of the crater, and the damage in particular.
Vesuvius has calmed down since the large eruption, but Plinian eruptions can last anything from days to months. The volcano was still restless. We were still getting readings of minor tremors. Even if it had unloaded a bulk of the attack, it may not be over just yet. Needless to say we are nervous to be up here today.
We are brought back down. Its a while before we realise where we are standing. We are standing on the ruins of Pompeii. We collect the regular samples - the earth now covering Pompeii, pumice that was thrown from Vesuvius - before we return home once again.
And once again, I send a message to the teams to let them know the current state of the volcano: "Activity of Vesuvius has decreased significantly since violent eruption, but is still restless. Area should now be marked as YELLOW ALERT - ADVISORY until further notice."
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