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The
unconspicuous, irregular cone of Monte Paparìa is seen
in this photograph taken in May 1999, with a farm building standing
on its near (north) rim. The highest point of the cone is the
rounded, green hill at right. Monte Paparìa was probably
more prominent in the past before it was surrounded and half-buried
by more recent lava flows. In the left background rises the much
larger cone of Monte Minardo; before it lies a poorly vegetated
but undated lava field whereas the rubbly lava in the foreground
is of the 1843 eruption. About 60 people were killed in this area
during that eruption when the lava flow covered a cistern and
instantaneous evaporation of the water in the cistern caused the
flashing of steam through the lava. The road seen in the foreground
leads from Bronte up to a gate of the Etna Natural Park, from
where fine hikes can be made in one of Etna's most charming landscapes |
Mamma
Etna's countless children
Monte Paparìa
W flank, 14.85372° E, 37.75739° N
Summit elevation: 1005 m (S rim of crater)
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Monte
Paparìa is a presumably quite old pyroclastic cone on the western
flank of Etna, about 3.5 km SE from the town of Bronte. Surrounded and
half-buried by more recent lava fields, including the voluminous 1651-1653
pahoehoe lavas, only the upper portion of the cone is now visible. All
of it is private property, with a beautiful land villa that has been fully
reconstructed in the late 1990s. Any related lava flow(s) lie buried beneath
younger lavas, and it is close to impossibly to determine with reasonable
precision the age of the formation of Monte Paparìa - except that
it is presumably Holocene.
The single photograph that shows appreciable detail of Monte Paparìa
(at the top ot this page) was taken in May 1999, during my first major
excursion to the central-lower western flank of Etna.
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to Monte Ruvolo
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