Mount Etna Is An Active Stratovolcano On The East Coast Of Sicily.

testarasta (58)mutedin TravelFeed • 5 years ago

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It is the largest active volcano in Europe, currently standing 3,329 metres (10,922 ft) high, though this varies with summit eruptions; the mountain is 21 m (69 ft) lower now than it was in 1981.

Etna covers an area of 1,190 km² (460 sq mi) with a basal circumference of 140 km. This makes it by far the largest of the three active volcanoes in Italy, being about two and a half times the height of the next largest, Mount Vesuvius.

Thousands of years ago, the eastern flank of the mountain experienced a catastrophic collapse, generating an enormous landslide in an event similar to that seen in the 1980 eruption of Mount St. Helens.

Research published in 2006 suggests that this occurred around 6000 BC, and caused a huge tsunami which left its mark in several places in the eastern Mediterranean.

Long exposure photo of the NSEC (New South East Crater) eruption with two chimneys of February 2014.

Etna erupting on 30 October 2002, seen from the International Space Station.

Etna Sicilia by Franco Zanghi.

North crater casting 2014.

Etna is an uninterrupted destination for visits by tourists interested in the volcano and its manifestations as it is one of the few active volcanoes in the world to be easily accessible. In fact, there are also specialized guides and off-road vehicles that safely take visitors to the summit craters.

Since 2004, the volcano has been home to the SuperMarathon of Etna, a difficult marathon with its three thousand meters in altitude. The sporting event starts from the beach of Marina di Cottone above sea level and ends, precisely, on the volcano at an altitude of three thousand.

Etna is the most majestic active volcano in Europe.

round the craters, the lava flows confirm the incessant activity of the volcano. Today the Etna volcano, which dominates the entire province of Catania, looks like a huge black cone (white in winter), visible from 250 km away.

It is a disturbing presence of which all the inhabitants of Catania, while distrusting the threat it represents, are proud and call it a natural treasure to be not afraid of.

For sailors, the Etna volcano, called ”the Mongibello”, is ”a natural lighthouse that does not need a lighthouse keeper”.

Once upon a time, his sight alone was enough to navigate, without the need for a compass. Thus, Etna for Sicilian sailors functioned as an “anemometer, because the direction in which the smoke moved indicated the direction of the wind forces, also as a barometer because, the arrangement of the clouds along the slopes of Etna, indicated the rains passed away. "

The external structure of the Etna volcano, as it appears to our eyes, has four craters: the Central Crater (the oldest of the summit craters), the Bocca Nuova (formed in 1968), the North-East Crater (formed in 1911) , and finally the youngest, the Southeast Crater (formed in 1971).

The latter has significantly increased in height in recent years, due to the frequent "Strombolian" type eruptions that have occurred in recent years.

Fatalism, superstitions, myths and legends.

Fatalism merges with superstition, myth and legend, but now, through constant monitoring of the area conducted by the Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology, as well as through technical interventions, it is possible to predict volcanic activities, their importance and take precautionary measures and preliminaries on magmatic flows.

Sources:

Italy Photo Gallery.

Wikipedia.

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5 years ago in TravelFeed by testarasta (58)muted

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popurri (54) 5 years ago

Que fotografías tan espectaculares. La belleza y fuerza de la naturaleza, saludos

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testarasta (58)muted 5 years ago

En efecto @popurri y lo más curioso es que provoca muy pocos daños. Es más lo espectacular que lo peligroso. Incluso se cultivan viñedos con uvas de muy buena calidad a los pies del volcán.

Los lugareños ya están acostumbrados a los ruidos que anteceden a cada erupción y no le prestan demasiada atención. Incluso una de las etapas del giro de Italia llega hasta donde está el Observatorio del Etna a casi 3.000 mts de altura.

Gracias por comentar y apoyar el contenido del post.

Saludos y buen fin de semana.