WARNING: Etna
is currently showing only weak eruptive activity at the summit
craters, but as always visits to the summit area expose escursionists
to high risks, especially those risks related to unstable weather
conditions.
Although
the winter in Sicily seems essentially over, heavy snow falls
might still occur until early May, and unstable weather in general
is among the main risks that visitors to the summit area have
to face. Generally access to the summit craters without guides
is prohibited.
The mountain guides and excursion services can be contacted
at the cable car building (near the Rifugio Sapienza on the
southern flank), telephone +39-095-914141; or at the Hotel Le
Betulle (Piano Provenzana on the northern flank), telephone
+39-095-643430. Further information (in Italian) is available
on the Funivia
dell'Etna web site.
|
The
latest update is near the bottom of this page
14
November 2001 update.
No
new activity has been observed on Etna in recent weeks, and it seems
that the volcano is still slumbering after its major eruption in July-August
this year. Meanwhile more web sites dealing with that eruption have
appeared on the internet, which are listed at the bottom of this page.
22
December 2001 update.
Etna
continues its post-eruptive slumber, no fresh magma has appeared in
the summit craters, although occasional collapse within the Bocca
Nuova conduits generates emissions of lithic ash. Quiet, non-eruptive
degassing is occurring at the NE Crater and the Bocca Nuova, and minor
gas emission can be observed at the SE Crater and the Voragine. The
lava flows erupted during July-August 2001 are still warm so that
they remain free of snow, while the mountain is covered with a splendid
white blanket to an elevation of about 1700 m. Snow-free areas are
also present on the S flank of the SE Crater cone.
7
January 2002 update.
The
beginning of the new year has been a quiet one at Etna, as far as
eruptive activity is concerned. Heavy snow falls repeatedly covered
the slopes of the mountain down to less than 1000 m, and skiing is
possible on the northern flank, which has spared by the destructive
effects of the July-August 2001 eruption. During visits made to the
summit area in early January, no unusual activity was observed and
no explosion sounds were heard. The Southeast Crater, site of spectacular
eruptive activity between 1996 and 2001, was perfectly calm until
6 January.
On the afternoon of 6 January, wisps of vapor began to issue from
the western rim of the crater, which is the highest point of the Southeast
Crater cone. Similar emissions occurred intermittently, at intervals
of a few minutes, until night fell. No incandescence was observed
at dark, neither at the Southeast Crater, nor at the Bocca Nuova,
which was also emitting a dense gas plume. Fumarolic activity at the
Southeast Crater and quiet degassing at the Bocca Nuova continued
on 7 January.
The appearance of the new fumarole at the Southeast Crater might be
a first clear sign that the crater is "heating up" because
magma is slowly rising toward the surface within its conduit. This
is to be considered a normal process; a resumption of summit eruptive
activity has to be expected sooner or later, as magma is being fed
into the volcano more or less constantly, and eruptive activity at
the summit craters is common between larger eruptive events such as
flank eruptions. Yet it is impossible to say when summit activity
will resume, it is likely that it will do so within the next few months
to years, as is always the case after major eruptions at Etna. It
is also likely that the next period of summit activity will be similar
to the 1995-2001 summit eruptions, but it might culminate in a new
flank eruption after much less than 6 years.
On the other hand, the emission of vapor at the Southeast Crater might
simply reflect the heating of meltwater percolating into hot areas
within the cone after the recent heavy snow falls. In this case, a
resumption of summit eruptive activity is still some time away.
17
January 2002 update.
Increased
gas emissions from the Southeast Crater and from the Bocca Nuova (at
the latter crater mixed with ash) occurred in mid-January. Very light
ash falls occurred on the eastern side of the volcano, extending as
far as Acireale. During visits to the summit area loud explosions
were heard, which probably came from the Bocca Nuova. These explosions
were also heard in the skiing area of Piano Provenzana on the northern
flank of the mountain. No incandescent ejections have been noted at
night. Bad weather has occasionally hampered visual observations since
13 January.
5
February 2002 update.
During
a visit to the summit craters of Etna on 30 January, low levels of
activity were observed. Deep-seated, loud explosions occurred at intervals
of 5-30 minutes within the northwestern pit of the Bocca Nuova, but
no solid material was ejected. The rims of the pit were covered with
brown lithic ash (which had been emitted in December-January) but
there were no blocks or fresh scoriae indicating recent ejections.
The conformation of the pit was the same as in September 2001, with
a crecent-shaped flat terrace surrounding a deep degassing vent in
the SE part of the pit. The southeastern pit of the Bocca Nuova was
quietly degassing, and its bottom could not be seen while peering
over its S and SW rims.
Most of the present degassing at the summit craters is occurring from
a vent in the southwestern part of the Voragine, which had been much
less active during the past 1.5 years. The Northeast Crater emitted
a fairly dilute plume, and at the Southeast Crater, fumarolic activity
was concentrated at its western rim where numerous degassing vents
lie in a fracture.
Access to the summit area is very difficult due to the destruction
of the cable car and the ski lifts on the S flank last summer, and
one has to hike from about 1900 m elevation. This is a harsh trip
that takes several hours and leads across the lava fields of July-August
2001. Consequently very few persons have visited the summit area recently.
Meanwhile it seems that the cable car will be rebuilt in the same
location as soon as possible and the touristic infrastructures around
the Rifugio Sapienza on the S flank will be extended and improved.
The road leading from there to Zafferana, which had been buried by
lava flows in the July-August 2001 eruption has been reopened, and
guided excursions with jeeps on the S flank will resume as soon as
the winter is over and the dirt road (which had also been re-established
soon after the eruption) will be accessible.
7
March 2002 update.
No
eruptive activity is occurring presently at Etna, although deep-seated
explosions are probably continuing within the conduit of one of the
eruptive vents of the Bocca Nuova (see previous updates). Numerous
small earthquakes, some of which were felt by the local population,
have been recorded recently on the S flank (in the area of the largest
of the July-August 2001 lava flows), which were interpreted as the
result of the cooling of the lava flow. Thus the longest quiet interval
at Etna since 1995 is continuing, and nothing indicates in this moment
when this will end.
13
March 2002 update.
Near
continuous, pulsating emissions of reddish-brown lithic ash have started
around 9 March at the NW vent of the Bocca Nuova, generating a plume
that trails for dozens of kilometers downwind. The source vent is
the same one that was the site of deep-seated explosions during the
past six months. The emissions might be caused by collapse within
the conduit, which has occurred repeatedly after the end of the July-August
2001 eruption, and does not necessarily indicate an intensification
of the activity or uprise of fresh magma. On the other hand, it is
8 months now that the volcano has been quiet, and renewed magmatic
activity at the summit should be expected in the not too distant future.
21
March 2002 update.
Emissions
of lithic, pink-colored ash continue at the Bocca Nuova. These are
accompanied by voluminous degassing from the Northeast Crater and
minor fumarolic activity from the Voragine and the Southeast Crater.
During days without strong wind, these emissions rise vertically to
form a spectacular plume that might easily create the impression that
true eruptive activity is taking place at the summit of Etna. However,
there is no evidence that fresh magma has risen to near the surface,
since no incandescence can be seen at night. Yet it seems that something
is moving up there. During a mid-March summit visit by Giovanni Tomarchio,
the cameraman of the Italian television RAI (much of what you have
seen about Etna in the TV news in recent years is footage by Tomarchio),
frequent loud explosions occurred in the southwestern vent of the
Bocca Nuova. Although the floor of this vent, which was exceptionally
clear, was not visible, it seemed that the explosions originated somewhere
immediately below the visible part of the pit. The southwestern vent
was silent when visited by Behncke in late January, while loud explosions
occurred at its neighbor pit in the northwestern part of the crater,
which is now emitting all the ash. All recent ejecta are fine lithic
ash, which has left a thick, soft deposit in the summit area. Similar
emissions occurred for months at the Bocca Nuova during the spring
and summer of 1999, prior to the vigorous eruptions at the Voragine
and the Bocca Nuova in September-November of that year.
29
March 2002 update.
After
nearly three weeks of ash emissions from the Bocca Nuova, the Northeast
Crater has joined the party and begun to emit dark brown to gray ash
early this week. The first direct observation of these emissions were
made on 27 March but local mountain guides report that they began
about two days earlier. In that case the beginning of the Northeast
Crater emissions would coincide with a series of small earthquakes
that shook the southeastern flank of the volcano during the night
of 24-25 March. At least three of the shocks were felt by the local
population and caused some apprehension but no damage.
On 27 and 28 March the ash emissions from both the Bocca Nuova and
the Northeast Crater rose as distinct puffs to several hundred meters
above the summit and seemed more energetic, denser and darker than
during the previous weeks. To a passing airplane pilot they appeared
so spectacular that he sent out a warning of a true eruption of the
volcano. On 28 March, a light ash fall occurred over the southern
flank of Etna to as far as Catania.
So is Etna back in eruption? What IS an eruption? Generally
text books define an eruption as a process that transports rock from
the interior of the Earth to its surface. Actually the ash that is
coming from the two craters consists of fine-grained fragments of
rock, but until now this rock was derived from the conduit walls and
thus was no new magmatic material. The ash that fell on Catania on
28 March is distinctly darker than that which fell in the summit area
during the previous weeks and it thus might contain a certain proportion
of fresh magmatic material, although microscopic examination would
be necessary to confirm this. No glow has been seen so far at the
summit during night observations, so it seems unlikely that magma
has reached the surface. In any case a resumption of magmatic summit
activity would be a very normal process at Etna, and it needs to be
recalled that this is one of the few volcanoes on Earth that are nearly
continuously active.
On 29 March two impressive columns of dark ash rose nearly continuously
from the two craters to several hundred meters above the summit. Shifting
winds carried the plume first to the E, then S and then W.
The July-August 2001 eruption and its precursors
(the spectacular paroxysmal eruptive episodes at the Southeast Crater
in June-July 2001) are featured on many web pages that contain additional
information, highly spectacular images, and video clips. These will
hopefully make up for the lack of photos on this page (I will post
them as soon as I have my office computer back to working fully)
The July-August 2001 eruption
- a new page on this web site, with an in-depth analysis of the events
and related public reactions, mass media coverage, eruptive products,
morphological changes, and a discussion of the recent paper in "Nature"
about the changing behavior of Etna. Includes a map and press photos
View a streaming video clip with
Boris Behncke interviewed by Dana Friesen of NBC channel on 2 August
2001 (courtesy of MSNBC). Windows Media Player is needed
The most instructive web page
on the 2001 eruption so far (but in Italian only), created by Lisetta
Giacomelli and Roberto Scandone
The "official" Etna
2001 eruption web site at the Catania section of the National Institute
of Geophysics and Volcanology (INGV), contains a preliminary map of
the lava flows
Photos of the eruption at the
Roma section of the National Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology
(INGV)
Etna eruption 2001: a page produced
by the GNV (National Group for Volcanology) and hosted by Vulcanoesplorazioni.com,
with photos, maps and movie clips
"Emergenza Etna" -
the Etna emergency, presented by the Italian Department of Civil Protection
(includes simulations of the lava flows)
Charles Rivière's Etna
home page, with frequent updates, photos, video clips: Rivière
was at Etna almost continuously during the 2001 eruption
Davide Corsaro's (of the Hotel
Corsaro) "Etna FAQ", a nice and entertaining resource with
many references to this Etna News page (grazie Davide!)
Tom Pfeiffer (University of Arhus,
Denmark) has stunning photos of:
the precursory activity at the SE Crater in the spring of 2001 and
of the July-August 2001 eruption (scroll down to "Etna photos")
Alain Catté (Association Volcanologique
Européenne) is currently working on a page on the 2001 eruption (we
went together to see the incredibly spectacular activity at the "Monte
del Lago" (also called "cono del laghetto") one evening
during the eruption)
André Laurenti (also of the Association Volcanologique
Européenne) came with the same excursion as Alain Catté
and has made his impressions and photos available in the "112-911
Magazine"
Thorsten Boeckel's web site (Germany) contains various
pages with photos and video clips of the SE Crater activity in the
spring of 2001 and of the July-August 2001 eruption
www.vulkane.net, a German homepage about volcanoes made
by my former colleagues (at the University of Bochum) Marc Szeglat
and Daniela Szcze
Jean Louis Piette from Belgium, who visits Etna every year,
and who always has something good to drink when we meet on the volcano,
presents his impressions of the July-August 2001 eruption
Alain Melchior, also from Belgium and partner in crime
of Jean-Louis Piette, has set up his Etna 2001 page, with nice 3D
animations and digital elevation models of Etna and photos, video
clips and other items are planned to appear on this site soon
Eurimage has spectacular satellite (Landsat, ERS) views
of the July-August 2001 eruption
www.vulcanoetna.com, a web site maintained by Andrea Fiore,
has impressive photos and videos of the eruption
Photos taken during the eruption on 20 July 2001 at www.sicilian.net
A brief summary of the 2001 eruption (in Spanish), with
a few photos (the second one shows the 4 September 1999 lava fountain
at the Voragine, the third and seventh show the Piano del Lago cone,
and the other photos are of the vents at 2950 m elevation), from the
Instituto Andaluz de Geofísica (University of Granada, Spain)
"Etna 2000" is an Italian home page made by Simone
Genovese, with general information on Etna, and has a special section
on the 2001 eruption with photos and video clips
A small selection of photos of the 2001 eruption (mainly
of the lava flow from the vents at 2100 m elevation), by Giovanni
Grasso and Antonio Guarnera (at Acitrezza On-line)
Photos (2 galleries) of the 2001 eruption (including a
spectacular aerial view) by Alexander Gerst (in German)
Photos and reports on a field trip with OUGS-ME (Open University
Geological Society - Mainland Europe) in May 2001, with a visit to
the erupting SE Crater
A brief report and nice photos of two paroxsms at the SE
Crater (22 and 24 June 2001), from André Laurenti (112-911
Magazine)
The Catania-based newspaper "La Sicilia" has
published numerous articles on the eruption. Here is a page dedicated
to the eruption, with photos, video clips and links