Roundtrip with the Circumetnea, 4 November 2002

Following excursions to the eruption sites on the northeastern and southern flanks on 1-3 November, I decide to return from Linguaglossa to Catania with the Circumetnea, a scenic little railway that goes nearly all the way round the volcano, with only a 25 km-long section of the full 150-km perimeter of the volcano lacking (there is actually no direct Circumetnea connection between Giarre and Catania). The trip from Linguaglossa to Catania takes nearly three hours, quite a blast, but it is extremely scenic. This was the single time so far that I made that trip while there was a significant eruption in progress. Top left: a grim trace of a past eruption stands in the foreground as the latest eruption is in progress in the background. The building in the foreground was transformed into a ruin by the 1981 eruption on the north-northwestern flank, which seriously threatened the town of Randazzo (which lies only 1 km from the place where this photo was taken) and destroyed numerous villas and farm buildings nearby. This time, the Randazzo people lived the eruption beginning with some apprehension (the opening of the Northeast Rift was well visible from there, and some of the eruption-related seismicity was felt by the population) but in the end got nothing worse than a few, relatively light, showers of ash of it Top right and bottom left: erupting Etna seen from northwest, between the town of Bronte and the village of Maletto. The dark lava flows visible on the flank at right are largely from the 1999 lava overflows from the Bocca Nuova, which is the broad, snow-covered feature in the right-hand portion of the summit area. Some of the many pyroclastic cones that dot the western flank of the volcano are visible at right in the top right photograph Bottom right: looking toward the volcano from southwest, near the town of Paternò. This view allows to distinguish the new eruption site quite well from the summit craters (at left) and the Montagnola (the broad peak at right). The relatively poorly vegetated lava in the foreground bears testimony of much worse eruptions in the past, when lava flows extended down to the base of the volcano, including the Catania area

To the mouth of the monster, 9 November 2002

On the early morning of 9 November, following a heavy snowfall on the previous day, the Montagnola has transformed into a world of marvels. Strong wind during the snowfall and the simultaneous fall of ash from the ongoing eruption led to the creation of the peculiar black-and-white patterns on the slope of that cone

Splendid weather conditions are greeting those people who are venturing to the still-active cone on the upper southern flank of Etna on the morning of 9 November 2002, following several days of absolutely bad weather. Ash emissions from the active cone are pulsating, as can be neatly seen in the succession of uprising ash puffs in this image

Instantaneous interruptions in the ash venting, sometimes lasting up to one minute, are quite common during the 9 November visit. This sequence shows the uprise of a spearhead-shaped ash column after a relatively brief (about 20 seconds) pause in the activity

Standing on the summit of the nearby, and at that time still-higher, Monte Frumento Supino (a prehistoric pyroclastic cone at 2845 m elevation), an amazing look into the crater of the newly forming pyroclastic cone is possible on 9 November 2002, shortly before the entire summit area of Etna is engulfed in a violent blizzard. If you look carefully at the photos at center and right, you can see some dull incandescence in the basal portion of the eruption column rising from the active vent. In fact, at night the activity is splendidly incandescent, but this dull glow in full sunlight has something suggestive to it as well

Ash, ash, and still more ash, 11 November 2002

Fifteen days after the beginning of the eruption, a towering ash column continues to darken the skies above Catania and surrounding areas, and the international airport of the town (from which this photograph was taken) remains closed on many days. While eruptive activity ended on the Northeast Rift on 5 November, the single remaining active south flank vent shows no signs of shutting down

Sunset at the new lava flow on the south flank, 16 November 2002

On 13 November 2002, the activity at the growing cone on the upper southern flank changed from continuous fire-fountaining and ash venting to Strombolian activity that produced varying amounts of ash, and lava began to issue from a crack that opened in the northern wall of the nearest of the craters that had erupted during the first days of the eruption. That crater was filled rapidly by the lava, which then overspilled its southwestern rim and began to spill down the southwestern flank of Etna. On 16 November, Pippo Scarpinati (seen in the bottom left photograph) and I passed a few marvellous hours at the source of this lava flow. A strong southerly wind blew the ash plume away from us, and explosive activity was at relatively modest levels. We waited until sunset and enjoyed the symphony of colours and lights. For one brief moment we felt a bit like back in those "good old days" of 1999 and 2000. It was the only time we had that feeling during the 2002-2003 eruption. Too many things in the context of this eruption were unpleasant, if not simply unbearable

A last look on the beautiful display of the lava flow issuing from the southern base of the enormous, and still growing, pyroclastic cone on Etna's upper southern flank on the evening of 16 November 2002. After this visit, I shall not return to that place until June 2003, more than half a year later

The other end of the lava flow, 20 November 2002

During the second half of November 2002, the eruptive activity on the southern flank of Etna went through alternating phases of strong ash emission and ash-poor Strombolian activity, both of which are seen in this series of photographs taken on the morning and afternoon of 20 November. Photo at left is a view from south (taken from a location north of Nicolosi), center and right images show the southwestern flank near the Botanical Garden, threatened by a slow-moving lava front. The lava is eating through a small forest at a painfully slow pace

More images of 20 November 2002, showing the slow advance of a lava flow across a beautiful area of forest on the southwestern flank of Etna. The flow is mainly advancing along the bed of a torrent. Left image shows forest guards at the lava front (visible as small orange-colored spots in the thumbnail), incandescent blocks tumbling down the steep side of the lava flow are seen in the center image, and in the right photograph, a huge lava block is slowly pushed ahead of the flow advancing on the bed of a torrent, setting a small pine tree ablaze

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