Sicily's Famous Volcano

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of Gibraltar at the mouth of the Mediterra- overturned saucer. Geography nean Sea, practically drying up the Mediter- Composite cones are known for their ex- ranean basin. Then about 5.3 million years plosive eruptions. The eruption of Mount In The ago, a geologic fault opened at Gibraltar, St. Helens in the Cascade Mountains in 1980 allowing ocean water to fl ow into the Medi- was a classic example of a violent compos- News™ terranean basin for the next 100 years until ite cone eruption. Mount Etna may well be it was fi lled to sea level. next. The Mediterranean islands of Corsica, Etna, however, is renowned for minor Sardinia and Sicily were all created from the eruptions and attracts many tourists who Neal G. volcanic activity located along and around want to catch a glimpse of lava inching Lineback the collision zone between the two conti- down its sides. These short eruptions, 64 of nental plates. Several volcanic mountains, which preceded one of Mount Etna’s largest including Mount Etna, form the backbones eruptions in 2001, do not necessarily foretell SICILY’S FAMOUS of these islands. the volcano’s future explosions. Scientists “Signora montagna,” (lady mountain) as cannot predict what will happen in the fu- VOLCANO Mount Etna is sometimes known, is located ture, but the Volcanology Institute of Cata- Mount Etna, Europe’s largest volcano on the northeast end of the island of Sicily nia constantly monitors the tremors. and one of the world’s most active, has and currently stands at 10,910 feet (3,326 m) When Etna erupts, the fate of the towns erupted again. Since Mount Etna is located above sea level. Its height varies with sum- on the volcano’s slopes is determined by in one of Sicily’s most where and how the lava populated regions near Mt. Etna Errupts Again: Sicilians Remain Fearless exits the volcano. Most of the towns of Messina the risk associated with and Catania, its recent 0 50 mi Mount Etna is not to peo- small eruption is news- ple, but to buildings; peo- worthy. But, the local 0 50 km ple usually have plenty of Tyrrhenian Y Sicilians who have lived Sea L time to leave. After recent A T with the volcano in their I eruptions, local authorities backyards forever call have even tested methods Messina these small eruptions Palmero Mt.Etna of cooling the lava and di- “tourist eruptions” verting it using dynamite, Trapani and say they don’t fear with some success. Mount Etna’s wrath. Marsala According to a recent ©2007 In locations where the SICILY ABC News article titled earth’s tectonic plates “From Lava Flows to converge and diverge, a Catania Snow: Mount Etna Af- great potential for vol- Caltanissetta ter the Eruption,” many canic activity exists. For Siracusa of the locals do not per- example, oceanic and Ragusa ceive Etna as explosive continental plates are or dangerous as Mount colliding all along the M Vesuvius, near Naples, e d i t Pacifi c Rim, resulting e r r a Italy. While Vesuvius is n e a n S in one plate subducting e a not expected to erupt in beneath the edge of an- the immediate future, the other. This subduction danger posed by future results in volcanic ac- Geography in the News 6/8/07 R.Huerta eruptions is very high. tivity, earthquakes and Vesuvius tends towards ocean trenches. sudden and extremely In another case, the Sources: http://abcnews.go.com/International/story?id=3147592&page=1; violent explosions and a North and South Ameri- http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml;jsessionid=D5IMZUDTNAO0RQFIQ very dense human popu- can plates are separat- MGSFFWAVCBQWIV0?xml=/news/2006/07/18/wetna18.xml; lation lives on and around ing, or diverging, from and GITN 586, “Mt. Etna’s Fiery Eruption,” Aug. 24, 2001. the mountain. the Eurasian and Afri- Whatever the future can plates. This diver- may hold for Sicilians liv- gence has created the mid-Atlantic ridge, a mit eruptions; the mountain is 71 feet (21.6 ing around Mount Etna, the “signora mon- chain of volcanic mountains, mostly below m) shorter than it was in 1865. During the tagna” is a wondrous volcano, command- sea level. As the plates move apart, molten winter, Mount Etna is snowcapped, and this ing considerable human awe. material is ejected into the ever-widening year the volcano even received snow May 4, And that is Geography in the News™. gap. This phenomenon created the island only a few days after its latest eruption. June 8, 2007. #888. of Iceland. Mount Etna is a composite volcano, com- (Neal Lineback is a Professor Emeritus of Mediterranean volcanoes are mostly prised of alternating lava fl ows and cinder Geography at Appalachian State University, products of collisions between the Eurasian and ash layers. This layering creates the Boone, NC. Geographer Mandy Gritzner of and African plates. Forty million years ago, cone-shaped profi le of composite volcanoes. Sandpoint, ID, is a researcher and writer for one of these complex collisions uplifted the Shield volcanoes, such as Hawaii’s Mount GITN and revised GITN 586 for this article. land forming the Alps. About six million Kilauea, are composed mostly of lava fl ows University News Director Jane Nicholson years ago, the collision sealed off the Strait and their profi le is more subdued, like an serves as technical editor.)