Italy's Volcanoes: The Cradle of Volcanology

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19 October 2002
This is a photograph of a volcano that is going to erupt vigorously eight days later, from two fissure systems on its southern (near) and northeastern (far) flanks. This is how Mount Etna looked like on 19 October 2002, when viewed from the Catania-Palermo highway near the town of Motta Sant'Anastasia. That morning there are some emissions of brownish ash from one of the summit craters, but otherwise the volcano is quiet, quieter than during the preceding four months.
This is the story of the year 2002 at Etna, before its dramatic eruption that started during the night of 26-27 October 2002, before Piano Provenzana was devastated and the tourist complex around the Rifugio Sapienza had to endure in a peculiar "cat-and-mouse-game" that the volcano liked to play over a period of two months. The story begins in a period of quiet and peace, in January 2002, and continues in much the same manner until six days before the eruption

Etna photo gallery: 2002
Before the mountain moved - January to October 2002

 

This photo gallery covers the ten-and-a-half months period before the 2002-2003 eruption, during which I made only occasional visits to Etna, but took a large quantity of photographs to document the changes caused by the 2001 eruption. Many of these have become historical documents indeed, for they show scenes and features which no longer exist. They also show how little indicators there were of a great new eruption, much bigger and destructive than its predecessor in the summer of 2001.

Climbing Etna on a splendid winter's day, 30 January 2002

Southeast Crater, 30 January 2002
The view from the Torre del Filosofo mountain hut toward the summit craters is dominated by the proudly rising cone of the Southeast Crater, which in this perspective appears even taller than the old central summit cone (in left background), although it is slightly lower. The bulk of this cone formed during a total of 105 episodes of violent lava fountaining between September 1998 and July 2001, but as of early 2002, when this photo was taken, the eastern portion of its summit is beginning to crumble. Yellow sulfur deposits are visible at the summit and also form a conspicuous stripe on the southern (near) side of the cone, which coincides with a fissure that reopened during nearly all of the paroxysmal eruptive episodes of the year 2000 but remained inactive during their successors in the spring and early summer of 2001. At the lower end of this fissure, a small cone formed in the spring of 2000, which was called "Sudestino" (little Southeast). To the right of it, half-covered with snow, there is dark, steep-sided cone, which formed during the July-August 2001 flank eruption
Bocca Nuova, 30 January 2002 Bocca Nuova, 30 January 2002 Bocca Nuova, 30 January 2002
Bocca Nuova, 30 January 2002 Bocca Nuova, 30 January 2002 Bocca Nuova, 30 January 2002
The incredible landscape of the Bocca Nuova, a crater that was not there before June 1968 and transformed into an enormous pit over the first 30 years of its life before it was filled to overflow in October-November 1999. Following the spectacular 1999 eruption, collapse resumed at the two main vents that had existed within the Bocca Nuova for at least five years before, forming two new pits in its northwestern and southeastern parts.
Top left: panoramic view from the southeastern rim of the Bocca Nuova to the southeastern (right) and northwestern (far left) pits piercing the crater floor
Top center: a look into the southeastern pit of the Bocca Nuova, revealing numerous alternating lava flows and pyroclastic levels in the walls of the pit, which were deposited during the October-November 1999 eruption. Diameter of the pit is approximately 120 m
Top right: northwestern portion of northwestern pit of the Bocca Nuova. Lower right corner of image shows the rim of an inner pit, which lies in the southeastern portion of the great pit. The flat terrace surrounding the inner pit was formed during the intermittent intracrater activity between September 2000 and April 2001
Bottom left: view of the terrace surrounding the inner pit (at lower right) within the northwestern pit of the Bocca Nuova, taken from the southern rim of the pit
Bottom center: southern rim of the northwestern pit of the Bocca Nuova. In the foreground melting ice forms small flows of mud on the surrounding crater floor
Bottom right: a view into the northwestern pit from its western rim, showing inner pit emitting gas. Not visible, but well audible on that day (30 January 2002) were deep-seated explosions which did not throw out any solid material but were very loud and impressive to whoever witnessed them while standing on the rims of the pit
Bocca Nuova, 30 January 2002 Southeast Crater, 30 January 2002 Southeast Crater, 30 January 2002
Left: another view of the northwestern pit of the Bocca Nuova and its degassing inner pit. Like the neighboring southeastern pit, this pit shows an impressive succession of pyroclastic horizons alternating with thin lava flows, which all constitute the voluminous crater fill emplaced during the October-November 1999 eruption within the Bocca Nuova
Center: the steep cone of the Southeast Crater, seen from the eastern rim of the Voragine. Inactive since the 2001 eruption, the cone is largely covered with snow, but new fumaroles are active on its western (right) rim since the beginning of 2002 (and yet the Southeast Crater did not participate in any way neither during the 2002 summit activity nor during the 2002-2003 flank eruption)
Right: the Southeast Crater is not alone, but several smaller features have formed since early 2000 at its southern base. The first of these formed in the spring of 2000 and built a small cone named "Sudestino", which is visible right in front of the Southeast Crater cone; the first vents to open during the 2001 flank eruption (at about 2950 m elevation) built up a short row of large "hornitos" or spatter cones, the largest of which is visible at right

Distant glimpes of Etna, April-May 2002

Etna from Taormina, April 2002
A brilliantly clear view of snow-covered Etna from the scenic hills above the town of Taormina, one early morning in mid-April 2002. Note the melting of snow in the summit area (the cone of the Southeast Crater is seen standing to the left of the summit, while the tallest peak (actually 3318 m in elevation) is the Northeast Crater. Some melting of snow is taking place on that crater as well
Etna from east, April 2002 Etna from northeast, April 2002 Etna from east, April 2002
Scenes of Etna seen from the east (from the northeast in the center image) in April 2002, with snow falls alternating with rapid snow melts. Ash emissions can be seen in the center and right photographs; these started on 9 March from the Bocca Nuova, and 18 days later from the Northeast Crater. Note how well the lava flows of the July-August 2001 eruption can be distinguished in the left photograph (when enlarged by clicking on the thumbnail), since the recently fallen snow has rapidly melted on them
Etna from Taormina, April 2002 Etna from northeast, April 2002 Etna from Taormina, May 2002
Left: zoom on the upper portion of Etna from Taormina in mid-April 2002, showing periodic emissions of brownish ash (old pulverized rock) from the Northeast Crater
Center: Etna's summit craters seen from northeast in late April 2002, with continued ash emissions but at this time mostly from the Bocca Nuova. The cone of the Southeast Crater can be seen at left, while the Northeast Crater stands further to the right at the summit. The ridge in the right part of the image belongs to the Pizzi Deneri, and the northern wall of the Valle del Bove can be seen in the middle ground
Right: yet another view of Etna, this time partially shrouded in clouds, from the hills that tower above the town of Taormina, early May 2002
Etna from Taormina, April 2002
Postcard view of Etna after a heavy snowfall in early May 2002, with parts of the towns of Taormina (right) and Giardini (left) lining the scenic coast of the Ionian Sea in the foreground. Note: the image is not clickable due to low quality of original slide

Marvellous Acqua della Rocca, early May 2002

Acqua della Rocca, May 2002 Acqua della Rocca, May 2002
One of the most beautiful spots on Etna, the scenic valley with the dried-up cascade known locally as "Acqua della Rocca" (water of the rock), on the southeastern flank of the volcano. This is also one of the geologically most intriguing sites, since it tells a fascinating story of a torrent of water that once ran down through this valley, but which ceased flowing a few thousand years ago because its source, located higher upslope, disappeared. Some researchers believe that the source was actually a glacier, which lay on a part of the volcano that was removed in the latest catastrophic lateral collapse that occurred in the Valle del Bove area.
The left photograph shows the spectacular outcrop of polished rock where once the water used to plunge over a cliff about 80 m high. Right image is a view from the top of that cliff, down into the lower portion of the valley (which is also one of the greenest areas on the southern side of the mountain), with the prehistoric pyroclastic cone of Monte Monaco in the center-left background. Photos were taken on 1 May 2002
Acqua della Rocca, May 2002 Acqua della Rocca, May 2002 Acqua della Rocca, May 2002
After struggling their way up the steep upper portion of the "Acqua della Rocca" footpath, a group of excursionists enjoys the breathtaking view into the Valle del Bove from its southern crest, and toward the upper part of the volcano, seen in the zoomed photographs in the center and at right. Center photograph shows the sharp peak of the Montagnola, formed during a strongly explosive flank eruption in 1763, and a bit further to the right (north), the more roundly shaped cone formed during the 2001 eruption, which was quite explosive as well. Right photograph shows the cone of the Southeast Crater and a dense vapor plume issuing from the Bocca Nuova and the Northeast Crater, which are hidden behind the plume

Two "different" views of Etna, May 2002

Etna seen from Nebrodi, May 2002 Snow-covered Montagnola, 24 May 2002
Left: the enormous cone of Etna seen from the Monti Nebrodi to the northwest in early May 2002. The Monti Nebrodi, which are not volcanic, not only offer breathtaking views to the volcano, but an unexpected variety of landscapes, with dense forests, lakes, and mountain ranges that one would rather suggest in Germany or Switzerland, but not in Sicily
Right: a late snow fall on 24 May 2002 has whitened the large cone of the Montagnola on Etna's southern flank. This view highlights a few details that are otherwise less visible: the horseshoe-shaped crater of the Montagnola, which is open to the observer, and the peculiar dark ridge of lava which formed below the crater during its eruption in June-September 1763 (another flank eruption had occurred earlier that year on the western side of the volcano). In contrast with most other lava flow-fields on Etna, that of the Montagnola consists of countless short overlapping lobes that built up to a thickness of probably more than 100 m in places

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