Around 100 B.C.E., wealthy Romans began building villas in the town of Baia, which sits on the Gulf of Naples. The region was considered superior to other outposts of the elite like Capri, Herculaneum, and Pompeii thanks to its relaxing, resort-like atmosphere and beautiful surroundings. It is also, however, in an area known in Italian as Campi Flegrei, or Phlegraean Fields, from the Greek meaning “burning earth.”
Baia’s nearby volcano is part of the Campanian volcanic arc, which includes Mount Vesuvius, the peak that erupted and shrouded Pompeii in ash in 79 C.E. Over time, the lower part of Baia gradually flooded through a volcanic process known a bradyseism, in which magma pushes up the surface of the earth.
Fast forward to 2002, and the Submerged Archaeological Park of Baia was established to preserve and study the area’s unique history. And an excavation this May uncovered a fantastic feature enjoyed predominantly these days by fishes: an ornate, multicolored marble floor at the base of a collapsed villa. “The building represents the largest space of the noble residence, characterized by the large semicircular apse at the back and by a surface area of over 250 square meters,” says a statement from the park, which believes the structure is from the 4th century.
Full article available here : https://www.thisiscolossal.com/2024/07/baia-submerged-marble-floor/
How does magma pushing the surface UP cause flooding?
Not to be that guy, since I had no idea either, but I grabbed an unfamiliar word from the article summary and ran it through Wikipedia.
tl;dr influx of magma causes a rise, retreat of magma leaves potential for collapse.
Yes i went straight to wikipedia too. Bradyseism can shift land up or down, but in the post text it specifically says “up”… that’s the part im confused about.
Right, it was worded poorly. I didn’t read the source article >_> but I see the following as possibilities:
Either way, we learned something today. Just one more entry in the book of “Nature is Metal AF.”