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Group
photo of Monte Rinazzi (the densely forested cone with a distinct
crater depression in center-right portion of photo) and its neighbor
Monte Rinazzelli immediately to the left, seen from the summit
of Monte Sona (about 1.3 km to the
northwest) on 31 October 2003. It is probable that both Monte
Rinazzi and Monte Rinazzelli were formed during a single eruption
in prehistorical time. Immediately behind them is the black tongue
of the main lava flow of the 2001 eruption (note that this is
not present in the photo at the bottom of this page). The three
large cones in the background are (from right to left) Monti
Rossi, Monte Serra Pizzuta,
and Mompeloso |
Mamma
Etna's countless children
Monte Rinazzi and Monte Rinazzelli
S flank, 14.992518° E, 37.658500° N (Monte Rinazzi),
14.993275° E, 37.661243° N (Monte Rinazzelli)
Summit elevation: 1169 m (Monte Rinazzi), 1155 m (Monte Rinazzelli)
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Monte
Rinazzi and Monte Rinazzelli are two of several relatively unconspicuous
and densely vegetated cones that lie to the east of the road that leads
from the town of Nicolosi to the tourist station "Etna Sud"
at the Rifugio Sapienza. Although Monte Rinazzi lies further downslope
than its neighbor, it is about 15 m taller. Before it was encircled on
its eastern side by the most advanced portion of the main 2001 lava flow,
its height above its southeast base was nearly 90 m, whereas on its western
side its relative height had been reduced to some 30-40 m by a lava flow
erupted in 1910. Besides a circular summit crater about 180 m in diameter
and with a depth of approximately 35 m below the highest (northeastern)
crater rim there are two smaller craters on the south and southwest flanks
of Monte Rinazzi. Monte Rinazzelli has one single, somewhat degraded horseshoe-shaped
crater that is open to the south and densely forested. Both cones are
certainly prehistoric and probably much older than some of the nearby
cones such as Monte Sona and Monte
S. Leo, and from their relative positions and identical vegetation
it appears that they were formed during a single eruption.
During my single close pass at Monte Rinazzi and Monte Rinazzelli, on
10 May 2000, I did not take any photographs because it was impossible
to find a good position for portraying these cones. The only reasonably
decent photographs, taken from Monte Sona
(about 1.3 km to the northwest) in April 2000 and October 2003, are shown
on this page.
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Photograph
taken from the summit of Monte Sona
on 22 April 2000, 3.5 years before the photo above was taken -
note absence of the 2001 lava flow. Monte Rinazzi (in left part
of this image) is seen to be much less conspicuous than some of
its much larger and probably more recent neighbor cones, such
as Monte S. Leo (whose eastern flank is visible at extreme right)
and Monte Sona. The gray lava field
in the foreground is of the 1910 eruption; in the background it
joins the lava fields of 1886 and 1892. The road that can be seen
in the right part of the image leads from the town of Nicolosi
(out of the field of view in the background) to the tourist facilities
around the Rifugio Sapienza. View is to the southeast |
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