Sicily holidays by Volcano Etna

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FAQ on Mt. Etna – Find your answers

June 29th, 2007 · 1 Comment

Here a list of the most common answers that we have received about the Etna.

Can Etna blows like Mount St. Helens?
Explosive eruptions on THE Etna are rare and usually limited to the summit area. However, at very long intervals, the volcano produces some violent explosive eruptions.

To change its eruptive behavior from the normal mild Strombolian and largely effusive activity (really not dangerous) to highly explosive, must to happen something drastic in the conduit system. An example could be a long-lived blockage that allows the magma to change chemically and thus become more likely to erupt explosively. This is currently not occurring, since magma rises freely and near continuously to the summit.

How to go to the summit area?
If you are an experienced mountaineer, you may feel free to climb Etna from wherever you want. For less experienced climbers, the best way to access to the higher portion of the mountain is presently on the northern side (Piano Provenzana- Linguaglossa). From there you can arrive easily near the summit craters, and enjoy a wealth of breathtaking panoramic views.

Before you go, try to get as much information about the current state of activity and the weather situation. If you want to get there faster, you have two options. The cable car on the southern flank or the jeep buses that start at the base station of the cable car (near the Rifugio Sapienza, at about 1950 m elevation-South Etna-Nicolosi).

Is it safe to climb to Etna’s summit?
It’s absolutely safe to go to the Etna summit. But take care of this simple Tips:
Etna is a surprisingly large mountain where people can easily lose orientation, and this huge mountain creates its own microclimate. Even when there are generally stable weather conditions in Sicily, Etna may be shrouded in dense clouds, and often these produce downpours and thunderstorms.

Before going to the summit you need to have the right accessories and a good guide to be safe.

 

  • NEVER go to the summit alone
  • NEVER go unless weather conditions are extremely stable
  • NEVER go if there is a visible increase in the eruptive activity at one or more of the summit craters.

Can lava flows at Etna be diverted?
The answer is: under certain favorable circumstances (high elevation of the eruptive vents, low mass eruption rate, enough time to carry out the necessary preparations) a diversion of lava flows is possible.
One of the first experience was during the eruption of 1669 where the Catania citizen used walls to contrast the flow arrived to the doors of the city.

Less known measures to prevent the spread of lava flows within the city of Catania during the same eruption include the construction of barriers across the main roads leading to the center of the city which actually halted the advance of the lava and saved the center of the town from destruction.

On may of 1983 the lava flow was stopped by the utilization of bombs to conduce the flow into an artificial bed. Another way used to deviate the lava flow was the the erection of a large earthen barrier perpendicular to the flow direction.

What are the hazards of Mount Etna?
Generally there is a lot of disinformation about the volcanic hazards for mount etna.
Most people usually are scared about the Etna activity. This was particularly the case during the July-August 2001 eruption, and, as a result, many people cancelled their holidays in Sicily. There is absolutely no danger to the lives and health of anyone living near Etna, even in the case of a major explosive summit eruptions.

The principal hazard is the ash emitted by the volcano that can cause accident for cars in the streets.
Catania received its most recent significant tephra falls during the July-August 2001 eruption. During these and various previous eruptions, the airport of Catania has been closed because of the ash fall. The most hazardous eruptive phenomenon on Etna is lava flows.

In which plates does mount Etna lie on?
Volcanism in Italy is generally due to the collision of the African and the Eurasian plates. Etna may really be the product of an hot spot, but it is also related to a complex tectonic situation, with numerous major faults intersecting at the volcano.

What was the most destructive eruption of mt etna?
The mount Etna volcano is famous to be a “Good Volcano”. The most destructive eruption of mt etna was the eruption of 1669, where lava flow destroyed lot of etna villages, the city of Catania, arriving to the sea.

How tall is mount Etna?
The Mount Etna volcano is the tallest active volcano in Europe. Because of its particular eruptive activity, the mount Etna has not a stable altitude. It’s altitude depends on the violence of the eruption that can create new craters or destroy parts of the volcano. Actually the volcano is high 3.350 meters.

How mount etna erupted in 1669?
The mt etna’s eruption in 1669 was one of the most destructive and impressive. Preceded by a Vigorous seismicity by more than two months before, this eruption was the most destructive ever recorded on the etna. On 11 March, a 9 km-long fissure opened up on the southern flank of the mountain.
In the inferior part various explosive mouths were opened, whose materials gave life to various hills, between which the so called “Red mounts”. The lava flow reached the city of Catania, destroying its western part, it concluded with the arrival to the sea.

How many times mount Etna has erupted?
During the centuries, Mount Etna has erupted many times. Here a list of the most important. It’s difficult to record exactly the number of the etna eruptions. It’s sure that the first record about the eruptions come from 3500 years ago. During this period we have recorded a lot of different eruptions, the most important are those ones before 1900 and after 1971. Every eruption is characterized by its specific circumstances, so it’s impossible to explain a typical etna eruptions.

Is Etna damaging the environment?
All the volcanoes activities can be dangerous for humans like the explosions, the earthquakes and the eruptions.
The effects of a volcano vary from volcano to volcano. It depends on the concentration of the gases emitted. The simplest gas emitted is the water vapor. Other gases emitted are carbon dioxide and sulfur dioxide. Another aspect to consider is the emission of ashes.

The most significant impacts from these injections come from the conversion of sulfur dioxide to sulfuric acid (H2SO4). Gas emissions from volcanoes are a natural contributor to acid rain. Volcanic eruptions also provide the benefit of adding nutrients to soil, that become more fertile, through the weathering process of volcanic rocks. This improves the growth of plants.

What causes mt etna to erupt?
The Etna is an effusive volcano and in the past years it gives us great shows of lava fountain and eruptions
Etna is nearly continuously active, and in terms of “productivity” it is the second most active volcano on Earth after Kilauea on Hawaii. Like all the volcanoes, mount Etna has its specific magma chamber and the process of erupting lava is the same of the other volcanoes.

Why did the Etna erupt in 2001?
The eruption of 2001 was one the most spectacular on the latest century. 25 earth tremors localized to east of central craters, preannounced this new eruption. Etna’s first flank eruption of the new millennium was also one of the most complex eruptive events at this volcano in the past few centuries. It involved some summit activity as well. A dense ash plume drifted hundreds of kilometers away, mostly to the SE, causing heavy ash falls that disrupted air traffic in Catania and surroundings and provided a serious nuisance to the inhabitants of the region.

In what year did mt etna erupt?
There are a lot of information about mount etna eruptions, but is difficult to register them.
About the Etna mount eruptions there are a lot of records since before the 1900 century. During the time the volcano erupted several times, all with different features. The most important eruption are those of 1669 and 2001.

What type of lava does mount Etna have?
It’s difficult to find the mt etna lava flows in other volcanoes. The lava of this volcano are much more viscous than those of the Hawaiian volcanoes or of Piton de la Fournaise volcano on Réunion island in the Indian Ocean.

What type of volcano is mount Etna?
The mount etna is a very strange type of volcano. It is difficult to classify Etna in terms of morphology. Etna has the morphological characteristics of both shield and strato volcano. The lower part of the mountain in some areas is clearly a shield on top of which a stratovolcano was built. Maybe the most precise answer to the question is: “Etna is a mixture of overlapping shield and strato volcanoes” partially destroyed by repeated caldera collapse and partially buried by younger volcanic edifices.

A strato volcano is tall volcano characterized by a cone form. The volcano is formed by lava, thefra and ash. The lava that flows from them is highly viscous, and cools and hardens before spreading very far.
Mount Etna is considered composite volcano because it is formed by sequential outpourings of eruptive materials.

When was the first eruption?
Generally the question is:”how did the first eruption of the mount etna affect?”
The record of Etna’s eruptions goes back to about 1500 B.P., and its list of documented eruptions is the longest of any volcano in the world. The first known record about the Etna eruption comes from the ancient writer Diodoro, was about 3,500 years ago, the eastern flank of the mountain experienced a catastrophic collapse, generating an enormous landslide in an event similar to that seen at Mount St. Helens in 1980.

When was the last eruption of mount etna?
Generally the question most people do is:”when did mount Etna last erupt?”
The Etna is always in Eruption because it is the tallest active volcano of Europe. Actually the most impressive eruption of the Etna was in the 2001. There is still today, in November 2006, a new eruption during since three months. Is this type of eruption we can assist to two different activities: The strombolian one (the explosion in the summit that during the night can give you the effect of fire works) and three different lava flows in the south. On 21 November was registered an explosion of the south east crater with ash emission on the etnean villages. This was the most important eruption since the latest year.

When will mount Etna erupt?
This is the most frequent question about the Volcano Etna. There are different ways to answer this question. The first is that the Etna is always in eruption. Infact it is the tallest active volcano in Europe. For long periods this activity is confined to the summit craters and nearby eruptive fissures.

If the word eruption means an opening of new vents and lava emission on the flanks, nobody can predicts when it will happen. Usually these flank eruptions are preceded by activity at the summit craters.

There are 3 possible behaviors of Etna in the near future:

 

  1. If the volcano behaves as in the past few years, then it might be either the Southeast Crater or the Bocca Nuova to resume activity first.
  2. A new eruption will occur somewhere on the flanks on the volcano.
  3. The activities will eventually die down. This can be categorically excluded, because the activity of summit are always increasing.

The two major fracture systems (or rift zones) on the northeastern and southern to southeastern flanks are more prone to eruption than the other sectors of Etna, so that the easiest pathways for magma can be found there.

Where is mount Etna?
Mount Etna is located in the eastern part of the Sicily island in the south of Italy. In the province of Catania.
Here you can find a typical situation where you can see from the tallest active volcano of Europe (more the 3.300 meters) near by the jonic sea.

Etna is an explosive or an effusive volcano?
Mount Etna is usually called “Etna furnace” because of its volcanic activity.
The Etna is a volcano characterized by effusive eruptions. Because of its continuous activity, the mount Etna has particular eruptions with lava flows too fluid. Etna’s typical activity is anything else but Plinian. Plinian is the most violent type of explosive eruption and occurs, every now and then, at Vesuvius. Is for this way that the volcano is not dangerous for the human visitors.

When was mount Etna created?
The history of Mount Etna is too ancient. The volcano hadn’t the actual size and was situated in another place.
The Etna starts its volcanic activity 500.000 years ago. We can divide its history in 4 parts. In the beginning period the eruptions were submarine under the sea of Catania coast. The famous outcrops of Acicastello, a town some 10 km north of Catania, and nearby locations contain pillow lavas and hyaloclastites produced by this early activity To see an example of the first living of the Etna you can look at the “Faraglioni” Acitrezza. Generally the native activity of the Etna took place in a vast marine gulf extending over part of the area occupied by the present Etna.

The second phase of volcanism at Etna, called “Ancient Etna”, began with more localized eruptions such as the Paternò eruptive center SSW of Etna. The third phase was characterized by the building of several overlapping stratovolcanoes.The fourth phase is divided in Ancient, Recent and Modern Mongibello.The ancient date of this phase is 35.000 years ago. Major caldera collapse occurred again several thousand years ago, forming the Valle del Bove, a vast depression some 5 x 7 km across on the eastern side of the mountain. The activity of Etna during the past few thousand years has been characterized by lava emission and Strombolian activity, punctuated at times by more explosive episodes from the summit craters.

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1 response so far ↓

  • 1 nautica // May 14, 2008 at 2:32 pm

    this really does give alot of information

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