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The
departure station of the third-generation cable car in August 1991,
one year after its inauguration (the Etna cable car had been destroyed
or damaged by eruptions two times previously, in 1971 and 1983).
The small object sitting on the crest at the skyline, immediately
above the building most to the left is the arrival station of the
cable car, next to the Montagnola (the sharp peak seen at the top
of the crest) at about 2500 m elevation.
Exactly ten years after this photograph was taken, this cable car
suffered the fate of its predecessors, with its arrival station
being burned by a lava flow coming from behind the Montagnola, and
several of its poles being more or less buried by other flows. The
2002-2003 eruption added to the destruction. Nonetheless it is already
decided that version 4 of the cable car will be constructed in the
same place, and possibly be functional as of 2004 |
Etna
photo gallery: 1991-1993
Glimpses of Etna, August 1991, March 1992, and March 1993
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Between
1991 and 1995, I visited Etna very briefly on 22 August 1991, on
20 March 1992, and in mid-March 1993, but only during the first
of these visits did I make it to the summit craters. The second
time, March 1992, a massive eruption was underway in the Valle del
Bove, and I enjoyed a marvellous evening on a peak on the rim of
the Valle, Monte Zoccolaro, watching countless active lava flow
lobes moving on a huge lava field just a few hundred meters below
my observation point. One month later that eruption began to threaten
the village of Zafferana Etnea, and in May 1992 dramatic efforts
were made, some with less and others with more success, to keep
the lava from eating its way all through the village.
When I returned to the spot about one year later, the eruption was
still in progress but at a very reduced rate, and actually it ended
two weeks later. In any case I did not get to see any of the activity,
but had the chance to visit the place that had been in all the world's
newspapers, magazines, and television news programs. |
Birth
and death of the Etna cable car, v.3
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Two
views of version 3 of the Etna cable car. Left photograph
shows poles and cabins of during first year of functioning
of this version, in August 1991, the one at right, taken
in June 2003, shows what remains of it after the two destructive
eruptions of 2001 and 2002-2003
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One
marvellous evening on Etna in March 1992
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Great
show on the evening of 20 March 1992, seen from Monte Zoccolaro
on the southern rim of the Valle del Bove: since more than
three months, lava is filling the southern portion of the
Valle, heading toward the village of Zafferana Etnea. |
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After
reaching Monte Zoccolaro in dense fog and seeing virtually
nothing, I wait for nightfall - and the fog begins to lift,
revealing a sight beyond belief. There's lava, lava, lava.
Lava everywhere, in dozens of active lobes, ribbons, tongues,
issuing from countless ephemeral vents on the active lava
flow-field |
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Left:
a good twenty small active lava lobes fed from as many ephemeral
vents in the lower portion of the lava flow-field, 20 March
1992.
Right: the single building of any significant size near
Zafferana that was destroyed during the 1991-1993 eruption,
seen in March 1993. Owner wrote "Thanks Government"
on its wall |
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