Italy's Volcanoes: The Cradle of Volcanology

Etna index

   
Geology Geological history Cones and craters
Eruptive characteristics Eruptions before 1971 Eruptions since 1971
Etna and Man References Web sites
Weather forecasts FAQ Latest news

 

Monte Pizzillo
Cut and deformed by faults, and partially torn away by more recent explosive activity, Monte Pizzillo forms a prominent landmark in the upper portion of Etna's Northeast Rift. In this view taken from approximately 500 m to the south, the irregular outline of the cone and the fissures running across it are well visible. Note the downfaulting on the eastern (right) sides of the two major faults, which have significantly deformed the original summit crater. The main faults trend roughly NNE, following the direction of the Northeast Rift, but a second set of less-defined faults (seen to cut obliquely from upper right to lower left) has a NE-SW trend, and downfaulting has occurred on the western (left) side. The smooth slope at right marks the rim of a huge crater formed by strong explosive activity during an eruption in 1879, which destroyed a portion of Monte Pizzillo. Photo taken in June 1999

Mamma Etna's countless children
Monte Pizzillo
NE flank, 15.010096° E, 37.791727° N
Summit elevation: 2417 m

 

Monte Pizzillo is a large pyroclastic cone in the upper portion of the Northeast Rift that possibly formed around A.D. 970 (Tanguy et al., 1999) but was affected by at least one major eruption in more recent time and furthermore is strongly faulted. Its morphology is thus quite irregular and makes it easily recognizable when seen from a distance. While the cone itself is not particularly tall (it rises approximately 40 m above its south base), it sits on elevated terrain making up the crest of the Northeast Rift and therefore forms a prominent landmark. A poorly defined summit crater forms a shallow depression at the top of the cone, but on its northern, northeastern and eastern flanks there are three much larger and more recent craters. The two latter of these almost certainly formed during an unusually explosive eruption in 1879, while the age of the third is not well constrained (although it may have also formed during the 1879 eruption, judging from its morphology and lack of an 1879 pyroclastic cover). These craters have destroyed a portion of the older Monte Pizzillo, which furthermore has suffered strong deformation due to faulting post-dating its formation. Two conspicuous sets of faults are well exposed on the south flank of the cone, the more pronounced following the trend of the Northeast Rift (approximately N35°E), while the second has a more easterly trend and is less strongly expressed. Such faults are known to form during the propagation of dikes along the axis of the rift, as has been well observed during the 2002 eruption on the same rift. However, the different character of the two sets of faults indicates that they were formed during two distinct events. The more strongly expressed NNE-SSW faults have the downthrown block on their eastern side, whereas the NE-SW system has downthrow on its NW side. If these fault systems are hypothetically linked to the formation of the more recent craters on the northern, northeastern and eastern sides of Monte Pizzillo, the NNE-SSW set is associated with the 1879 craters and the NE-SW faults with the crater on the north flank of the cone.
My first visit to Monte Pizzillo was in June 1999, but more detailed examination of the cone was made in September that year. I returned to the place in September 2002. The photos on this page were taken during those three visits.

Monte Pizzillo Monte Pizzillo Monte Pizzillo
Photographs taken between June and September 1999 of Monte Pizzillo and its surroundings. Left image shows the upper portion of the Northeast Rift with Monte Pizzillo in right background; an unnamed crater that post-dates the 1614-1624 eruption is seen in left middle ground. In the center photograph the irregular outline of Monte Pizzillo is seen behind a lava flow covered by pyroclastics of the 1809 eruption, and the image at right has a closer look on the faulted north flank of the cone
Monte Pizzillo Monte Pizzillo Monte Pizzillo
Left: view from the summit area of Monte Pizzillo toward the Northeast Crater, more than 4 km to the south, September 1999. Note the fault scarp in center foreground
Center: a large (170 m wide in north-south direction) crater lying on the northern flank of Monte Pizzillo. This crater opened during an eruption that post-dates the formation of Monte Pizzillo, possibly during the violently explosive 1879 eruption, which opened two further and larger craters on the eastern and northeastern side of the cone
Right: the rim of the largest of the 1879 explosion craters is seen in the right middle ground, and the lower portion of the Northeast Rift is in the background. The large cone partially hidden in cloud is Monte Nero, formed during an eruption in 1646-1647 and about 2 km further downrift
Monte Pizzillo
Monte Pizzillo
During an eruption in 1879, two huge craters were blasted out of the eastern and northeastern flank of Monte Pizzillo. This eruption was characterized by an unusually strong explosive activity, besides affecting two opposite flanks (northeast and southwest) of Etna. In these images, the more southerly and smaller (180 m in diameter) of the two 1879 craters is seen at left, the view being toward southwest, while the larger (350 x 260 m in diameter) and more northerly crater is seen in the right photograph. More photographs can be found on the page dealing with the 1879 eruption of Etna

Continue to the 1879 craters

Return to the Etna flank cone index

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

Page set up on 23 February 2004

Hosted by VolcanoDiscovery