One of the most remote of Etna's flank cones, Monte Moio lies about 18 km from Etna's summit to the north, on the far side of the Alcantara river. Monte Moio is the largest in a small cluster of cones, of which the second largest lies to the right (north) of the main cone. In spite of its youthful morphology, Monte Moio is older than 6000 years. The view in this photograph, taken in late June 1998, is to the ESE; the main edifice of Etna lies out of the view to the left

Mamma Etna's countless children
Monte Moio
N flank, 15.047027° E, 37.909097° N
Summit elevation: 703 m (W crater rim)

Approximately 95 per cent of Etna fall into the province of Catania, and only a small fraction belongs to the neighboring province of Messina, to the north. This includes one of Etna's more than 300 flank cones, Monte Moio, which is also the only one of Etna's eruptive centers to lie on the northern side of the Alcantara river. Monte Moio is one of the most distant flank cones of Etna, lying approximately 18 km from the summit. It is a quite sizeable cone that rises almost 150 m above its south base and seen from south it appears quite symmetrical. On its northern side, however, there lies a second, lower cone with an ill-defined crater that results from the same eruption that created Monte Moio. The crater of Monte Moio itself is perfectly circular and about 250 m in diameter; a deep notch is cut into its northern rim. The eruption that created Monte Moio and the smaller northern cone is by some sources referred to an eruption in 396 B.C. but stratigraphic work by Branca (2003) has shown that it is older than 6000 years. A lava flow travelled from Monte Moio for a few kilometers along the Alcantara valley, blocking the river and causing flooding upstream. An abandoned quarry at the eastern base of the cone yields interesting insights into the eruptive dynamics during the formation of the cone. Besides a main unit composed mainly of reddish scoriae there are numerous units, especially at the top of the pyroclastic sequence, which consist of lighter-colored material that contain abundant lithic fragments and possibly were deposited during phreatomagmatic activity. The close proximity of Monte Moio to the Alcantara river makes a scenario of phreatomagmatic activity quite realistic, as the ascending magma probably interacted explosively with groundwater.
At the southern base of the cone lies the village of Moio Alcantara, whose inhabitants, with some pride, consider the nearby volcanic edifice their own proper volcano and not just one of the more than 300 craters of Etna. A second village, Malvagna, lies about 1 km to the NNE. The riverbed of the Alcantara lies no further than 1.5 km to the south. Today Monte Moio is something like a small public park, with a trail leading up to the crater; unfortunately this trail is not well maintained and overgrown by rapidly expanding vegetation. The smaller northern cone is used for gardening, whereas the main crater bears only a few trees and bushes along with grasses. The view from the summit across the Alcantara valley to the distant main edifice of Etna is impressing, as is the view toward the much nearer Monti Nebrodi.
I first visited Monte Moio in the spring of 1998, and returned in May 2002 and June 2003. The photographs on this page were taken during the first and latest of these visits.

Left: View from the Solicchiata area toward the cone of Monte Moio, approximately 6 km to the northwest, in February 1998, with the Nebrodi Mountains in the background. The village of Moio Alcantara lies in front of the cone that is covered with green vegetation, and behind the cone to the right lies Malvagna Center: Monte Moio (right) and the huge main edifice of Etna in the left background in late June 1998, seen from north. Smoke plume in middle ground is from forest fires, not volcanic activity Right: Monte Moio seen from SSE, with the village of Moio Alcantara lying before it and Malvagna behind it to the right, and the Nebrodi Mountains in the background. Photo taken in late June 1998

Left: view across the crater of Monte Moio toward northwest, showing steep slopes of the Monti Nebrodi in the background. Photo taken in June 2003 Center: the main edifice of Etna seen from the summit of Monte Moio in June 2003. The summit of the volcano lies about 18 km away Right: outcrop of pyroclastic deposits making up the main cone of Monte Moio, on the lower eastern flank of the cone, June 2003

Outcrop on eastern lower flank of Monte Moio (this is an abandoned quarry) showing the complex stratigraphy of the pyroclastic deposits making up the cone. The main unit, seen in the center an right photographs, consists mainly of reddish oxidized scoriae of fairly uniform grain size (lapilli), but in its lower half several lighter-colored layers enriched in lithic blocks indicate possible brief phases of phreatomagmatic activity. The top sequence, seen in left photograph, consists of alternating reddish scoria and light-colored layers, the latter becoming predominant upward in the sequence. This indicates a strong phreatomagmatic component in the waning stages of the Monte Moio eruption. Interaction of magma with groundwater in this eruption appears quite plausible, since the cone lies close to the Alcantara river. Photos taken in June 2003

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Copyright © Boris Behncke, "Italy's Volcanoes: The Cradle of Volcanology"