"MichaelJF" <mi-### [at] t-onlinede> wrote:
> It depicts a certain kind of volcanic eruption, a so called
> pyroclastic flow. That is an Eruption of a mixture of gases and ashes first
> described by Pliny the Younger who witnessed the downfall of Pompeji.


Caribbean island of Martinique erupted in 1902.  At that time, there were plenty
of descriptions from witnesses on ships offshore, and they got photographs of
the pyroclastic flows.  Their descriptions were in remarkable accord with
Pliny's.  Today, this type of eruption is known to be common.

During the early days of the eruption, the attitude of the authorities in
Martinique was remarkably cavalier.  As it happened, one of the visiting sailors
lived in the shadow of Mt. Vesuvius, the very volcano that destroyed Pompei.  He
told the locals, "I don't know very much about your volcano, but if Mt. Vesuvius
looked the way yours does, I'd get out of Naples."  When the mountain finally
blew, the city of St.-Pierre was totally anihilated; there were only two
survivors in the blast zone.  According to Wikipedia, the pyroclastic flows were
estimated at 670 kph.  Many victims never knew what hit them.

>  The problem is the shear scale of the image. To have
> a tree recognizable I would have it 150 m high at least. I have no problem to
> scale things a little bit higher as they are in reallity, but 10 times?

If that's the case, then is it necessary to model individual trees at all?
Would a suitably clever texture (pigment and normal) be enough?

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