Just to the west of Naples, in Italy, is an area riddled with craters and cones.
Photo credit:Daniel Enchev/Flickr
The Phlegraean Fields were a popular holiday destination during Roman times.
A good portion ofBaiaes ruins now lies underwaterwhen the ground sank following local volcanic activity.
In recorded history, the first time the volcano was observed erupting was in 1198.
It was a small eruption that didnt cause much damage.
The force of the eruption was so powerful that it knocked down trees atdistances of 5 km.
Furthermore, there is evidence that the ground around this region is periodically being uplifted and subsided multiple times.
But the columns were more than 20 feet above the sea level at that time.
The Macellum of Pozzuoli.
The banding can be seen on the lower half of the three columns on the right of the image.
This phenomenon is now known as bradyseism.
With the magma chamber evacuated by the 1538 eruption, the ground subsided gradually again.
Over the last fifty years, the ground has been periodically rising and falling.
But new simulation suggests that the rocks are never relieved of pressure.
With every phase of uplift, tension forces build up making the rocks more and more brittle.
Photo credit:John McLinden/Flickr
Photo credit:deadmanjones/Flickr
