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The
NW flank of the NE Crater strewn with meter-sized blocks and bombs
ejected during the Voragine eruption of 4 September 1999. Photo
was taken 24 days after that event
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The
reddish brown ribbon in the center of this photograph is a lava
flow which was emplaced during the Voragine eruption of 4 September
1999 on the W side of that crater. The cone of the NE Crater is
visible in the background. Photo taken on 1 October 1999
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12
September 1999: spattering at a hornito building rapidly at a new
eruptive fissure on the ESE base of the SE Crater cone. The same
vent is emitting a lava flow. Photo by Giuseppe Scarpinati
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Another
photo of the same scene, taken on 12 September 1999 at the ESE base
of the SE Crater cone by Giuseppe Scarpinati
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W
rim of the Bocca Nuova, photographed on 1 October 1999, 16 days
before lava began to overflow from this crater exactly in the point
shown in the right foreground. Laver-covered crater floor lies about
30 m below the rim in this photo
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Vigorous
and continuous lava fountaining from a vent in the W part of the Bocca
Nuova on the evening of 12 October 1999, seen from the W flank of
the main summit cone, about 300 m from the rim |
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Left
photo: Ash plume rising from the NE Crater at sunset on 12 October
1999. Such explosions occurred at intervals of one or two minutes
and were accompanied by ejections of incandescent bombs
Right
photo: Simultaneous eruptive activity at the NE Crater (at left,
producing an ash column) and the Bocca Nuova (right, with lava fountains)
on the evening of 12 October 1999
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Lava
flowing through a channel near the main effusive vent at the ESE
base of the SE Crater on the evening of 12 October 1999. The channel
walls showed a wealth of suggestive forms and patterns. That evening
no spattering occurred at the effusive vents in this area
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View
across the central overflow channel on the W side of the Bocca Nuova
towards a lava fountain in the W part of the crater, shortly after
noon on 19 October 1999. The first overflow from the crater had occurred
less than two days before. Photo by Giuseppe Scarpinati |
New
lava flows spilling down the upper W flank of Etna and vigorous explosive
activity at the Bocca Nuova on the evening of 19 October 1999. This
photo, taken from the summit of Monte Ruvolo, lower on the W flank,
was taken by Giuseppe Scarpinati |
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Etna
during the eruptive episode at the Bocca Nuova on 22 October 1999,
seen from Ognina in Catania - about 25 km from the summit. From this
point huge jets of incandescent lava were seen rising hundreds of
meters above the summit. Marco Fulle was only about 1 km from the
erupting crater and submitted spectacular photos to
Stromboli
On-line |
Two
vents in eruption in the Bocca Nuova on 29 October 1999. Left (NW)
vent is seen ejecting a lava fountain mixed with some ash about 300
m high, while a dark, ash-laden eruption column rises from the SE
vent at right. Pinnacle in center of the image was formed by the pushing
of lava from the interior of the crater on 25 October |
Forest
burnt and buried by the longest lava flow of the Bocca Nuova eruptions
of October-November 1999, immediately S of Monte Nunziata on the WNW
flank of Etna. This flow, emplaced on 27 October 1999, also interrupted
the forest guard road. Photo was taken two days after emplacement |
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Panoramic
view of the upper W flank of Etna, with numerous dark lava flows that
were emplaced between 17 October and the day the photo was taken,
29 October 1999. The longest flows extend beyond the margin of the
photo at lower left, while most other flows stopped at about 2000
m elevation, before reaching the forest limit. Row of cones visible
half way up the slope at left are the uppermost part of the eruptive
fissure of 1843. The slight bulge in the slope of the volcano at the
skyline at upper left is part of the rim of the Ellittico caldera,
a collapse depression formed possibly about 15000 years ago. Two eruptive
plumes are seen rising from the Bocca Nuova at the summit, the light-colored
one at left comes from the NW vent which mainly ejects lava fountains
while the ash-laden plume at right rises from the SE vent. A streak
of white gas on the slope immediately below the light-colored left
plume marks a minor active lava flow descending a few hundred meters
downslope. Photo was taken from about half way between Monte Nunziata
and the Monte Palestra mountain hut, due W of the summit.
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Left
and middle: Two photos of the Bocca Nuova in full eruption on the
evening of 1 November 1999. Lava fountains are rising above the
NW vent in the crater, and lava flows from a vent a few tens of
meters below the W rim of the crater. The right photo shows people
- volcanologists and photographers - in the foreground; the blurred
effect comes from the gas that was emitted by the effusive vent.
Photo
at right: One of the most beautiful shots ever made by Giuseppe
Scarpinati: this shows one of the hornitos located on the ESE base
of the SE Crater cone spattering vigorously at sunset on 1 November
1999. Lava is flowing through a breach on the side of the hornito.
Another hornito, in a state of degassing, is visible in the right
background. The activity near the SE Crater and at the Bocca Nuova
on the evening of 1 November was the final grand show of the period
of heightened activity in September-November 1999, although vigorous
activity continued for a few days afterwards.
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