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The photographs
on this page were taken on 7 June 2003 (Stromboli) and during five visits
to Etna on 9, 13, 18, 22, and 26 June 2003, and represent a "new
generation" of images on this site, due to replace all low-quality
scans that appear on many of the pages today. Scanning of slides has been
difficult most of the time because no special slide scanners were available,
and during the past two years no scanner was available at all. This has
changed now. I have acquired a scanner capable of producing reasonably
high-quality scans from slides, photographs and negative strips, and thus
all images on this site can soon be seen in much better quality than before.
The images below are a foretaste; they will later be incorporated into
the respective sections of this site. They show the ongoing effusive activity
at Stromboli, where lava flows descend the "Sciara del Fuoco"
(see more on the Stromboli pages) since late December 2002; the effusion
rate has increased somewhat over the past few weeks and thus renders more
spectacular flows. The Etna photos show some of the dramatic morphological
changes that have resulted from the latest eruption, between October 2002
and January 2003, on the upper southern flank and on the northeastern
flank, near Piano Provenzana.
Stromboli,
7 June 2003
The
visit was made in the evening, lasting from before sunset well
into the night. Activity consisted of lava effusion without any
explosive manifestations; the effusion rate at that time was higher
than during the previous two months and incandescent rockfalls
from flow fronts and margins were continuous
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Left:
the Sciara del Fuoco at dust, with dust plumes rising from
nearly constant rockfalls
Right: lookout at 400 m elevation, also serving as helicopter
landing pad. Active lava flows on the Sciara del Fuoco are
visible in the background
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Left:
the disfigured Crater 1 (also known as northeastern Crater),
and active lava flows at lower right
Right: as night falls, the active lava flows become more
and more visible
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Two
views of a surge of very fluid lava breaching the lateral
levee of one of the active main flows. Image at right is
brighter due to longer exposure |
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Left:
Crater 1 remained completely inactive during the 7 June
visit, but produced some explosions during the previous
days
Right: at full dark the flowing lava shows spectacularly.
Much of the incandescent material, however, is rockfalls,
not flowing lava |
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Etna,
upper southern flank, 9 June 2003
The
visit was made during the late afternoon, with some weather clouds casting
shadows on the terrain, which explains why some of the photographs are
rather dark and low in contrast. It was possible to stay only briefly
on the rim of the lower of the two newly formed (2002-2003) craters;
a tour around this crater was made four days later (see next series).
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Left:
nameless but enormous, the lower of the two new cones of the 2002-2003
eruption looms above what was once Piano del Lago
Right: the site of the Torre del Filosofo mountain hut (deeply buried
in ash) and the upper of the two new cones in the background |
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Left:
the top of an antenna poking through the 2002-2003 pyroclastic deposit
is all that remains of Torre del Filosofo
Right: the Southeast Crater (steep cone at right) with its steaming
satellite vent "Sudestino", seen from south |
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Left:
four north-south aligned vent lie on the bottom of the upper new
cone, one of which still gives off hot steam
Right: this area was once called Piano del Lago (Plain of the Lake).
Now it has transformed into a mountain range
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Two
views of the crater of the lower new cone from slightly different
angles. This crater contains at least six irregularly spaced vents
and displays spectacularly colorful sulfur deposits |
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Etna,
upper southern flank, 13 June 2003
Lighting
conditions are quite different compared to the previous (9 June) series
as the visit was made during the early morning, but clouds often covered
part of the scene. This time it was possible to do a near complete round
trip around the lower of the two newly formed (2002-2003) craters, allowing
to portray it from different viewing angles.
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The
place seen here is what on maps is called "Piano del Lago",
which means "Plain of the Lake". It was a gently sloping,
flat area extending from the Montagnola (the sharp peak seen in the
distance) at about 2600 m elevation to the base of the summit crater
complex. Only one prehistoric cone, Monte Frumento Supino (which is
out of the picture to the right) lay in this area until 2001. During
the eruption of July-August 2001, a large new cone formed just to
the north of the Montagnola (the gaping crater seen in the distance
in front of the Montagnola). The eruption of October 2002-January
2003 led to the growth of two much larger cones, and all lavas seen
in the middle ground were erupted from several vents at the base of
the more southerly of these cones. The photograph was taken from the
southern side of the same cone, looking south |
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Left:
some of the poles of the cable-car survived both the 2001 and 2002-2003
eruptions
Right: British television team filming for National Geographic TV,
with the Southeast Crater in the background |
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Left:
fuming pit at the bottom of the northermost vent within the upper
of the 2002-2003 craters
Right: this is not a glowing block of lava, but a strongly oxidized
block, lying on the bottom of the upper of the new craters |
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These
two photographs show an impressive, colourful crack that extends
over a distance of several tens of meters on the western rim of
the lower of the two newly formed craters. Formed not by eruptive
activity but by the slow settling of the rapidly accumulated pyroclastics
constituting the cone, the intense colors are due to sulfur precipitation
and oxidation due to hot gases still exiting the crack. The yellow
stuff is elementary sulfur deposits, while the red color marks strongly
oxidized zones
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Left:
the lower of the two new craters seen from its high northeastern
rim, similar to photo taken on 9 June but different light
Right: looking to the high point from where photo at left was taken,
from the western rim of the same crater. Note persons standing on
peak at left |
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Left:
panoramic view taken from southern rim of the lower new crater looking
north, with the Southeast Crater in the background
Right: small vent piercing the crest of the southern rim of the
lower new crater, with yellow sulfur deposits |
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The
spectacular world generated by the 2002-2003 eruption. These two
photographs show portions of the interior of the upper of the two
new craters, with numerous vents of various dimensions, which lie
scattered in various locations within the crater and near its rim.
Left view is from the southwestern crater rim, while that at right
was taken from the southern rim. The Southeast Crater, partially
hidden in cloud, lies in the distance. People standing on the high
point on the far rim of the new crater indicate scale |
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Left:
view of the northeastern portion of the upper new crater from its
southwestern rim
Right: two of the larger vents piercing the bottom of the lower
new crater, seen from southwest |
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Etna,
Piano Provenzana and Northeast Rift, 18 June 2003
Piano
Provenzana and the eruptive vents that brought so much destruction during
the first days of the 2002-2003 eruption were visited during the early
morning of 18 June 2003, with the sun standing still low, which resulted
in the strong reddish hue visible in may of these photographs.
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Piano
Provenzana, located on the north-northeastern flank of Etna at about
1850 m elevation, appeared to be the most peaceful spot on the volcano
until that fateful morning of 27 October 2002. Within twenty-four
hours the once verdant plain (photo above, taken in July 1999), the
entire tourist complex it hosted, and large sections of the single
access road were transformed into a desert of blocky lava. A new dirt
road leading to the devastated place was constructed in March-April
2003 (photo below), but yet needs to be paved. |
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The
largest of the tourist structures at Piano Provenzana, the hotel
"Le Betulle", seen before the 2002-2003 eruption (left)
and after (right). All that remains of this building is a few chunks
of concrete mixed with lava |
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Left:
another bit of the former hotel "Le Betulle": this was
the main entrance section, seen in the center of the photo above
at left
Right: the first lava flow to reach Piano Provenzana on 27 October
2002 was emitted from this small vent |
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The
second lava flow which covered the remaining part of Piano Provenzana
after 27 October 2002 came through a tremendous lava channel (left)
and spilled down the slope immediately above the hotel "Le
Betulle" (right)
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Etna,
Piano Provenzana and Northeast Rift, 22 June 2003
A
second visit to Piano Provenzana and the nearby eruptive vents of the
early phase of the 2002-2003 eruption (October-November 2002) was made
on 22 June 2003, and some of the eruptive vents were studied in more detail.
Differently to the visit four days earlier, there was stronger fumarolic
activity in some sites. Furthermore it was possible to visit the main
vent of the eruption, from which much of the lava which devastated Piano
Provenzana was erupted. The lava flowed through a deep channel, resembling
the "barrel of a gun" from which the lethal shot onto the tourist
complex was fired.
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Looking
down at the site which once hosted the tourist facilities of Piano
Provenzana, 22 June 2003. The view is from the ridge above the plain,
which actually is the crest of a normal fault on the eastern margin
of the Northeast Rift. Much of the plain is covered with lava from
the first phase of the latest eruption, October-November 2002. New
dirt roads have been laid across the lava field and are planned to
represent the backbones of a new tourist complex, yet to be built |
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Left:
a closer look at the remains of the hotel "Le Betulle"
Right: approaching a still-fuming, small vent of the 2002 eruptive
fissure on the Northeast Rift |
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Left:
steam issues from the rim of a small vent of the 2002 eruptive fissure.
Cones in the background are Monte Nero (left) and the largest cone
formed in 2002
Right: ground cracks formed during 2002 eruption on Northeast Rift.
Person indicates scale |
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"The
barrel of a gun": this tremendous chasm was the vent which
fed the main lava flow that destroyed Piano Provenzana, which issued
through a deep lava flow channel |
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Etna,
southern flank, 26 June 2003
Like
the 22 June visit to the Piano Provenzana area, the 26 June 2003 excursion
to the craters of the 2001 and 2002-2003 eruptions on the southern flank
was made together with a group of students from the Gymnasium Heidberg,
near Hamburg, Germany. This was organized by Geology teacher Wolfgang
Fraedrich, who had made similar excursions in the past five years, which
I had the pleasure to accompany and support logistically as well. During
the week between 22 and 28 June, we visited many areas on and around Etna,
including the two major hikes at Piano Provenzana and on the southern
flank. The group was highly motivated and enthusiastic, and remarkably
apt to moving around in the often hostile terrains on the volcano. The
26 June excursion started at the huge craters formed during the 2002-2003
eruption and led to the "Belvedere" lookout, the large cone
formed during the 2001 eruption (Monte Josémaria Escrivà),
the Montagnola, and the 2001 vents at 2100 m elevation.
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Excursion
group from the Gymnasium Heidberg, Hamburg, Germany, at the eastern
base of the huge pyroclastic cones formed during the 2002-2003 eruption.
Mountain guide Andrea Mazzaglia is at right, Geology teacher Wolfgang
Fraedrich in the center. Thanks to all of you for making this a truly
memorable hike! |
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Left:
recent excavations have revealed a corner of the Torre del Filosofo
mountain hut, which had been completely buried by pyroclastics during
the 2002-2003 eruption
Right: pyroclastic stratigraphy of the western rim of the lower
of the new craters formed in 2002-2003 |
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Left:
effusive vent on southern side of the complex pyroclastic cone formed
during the 2002-2003 eruption. View is from southern rim of the
lower of the new craters
Right: looking into the lower of the new craters from its southeastern
rim |
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