Mount Etna has reactivated after several months of relative calm, lifting a 12-kilometer-high cloud of volcanic ash over eastern Sicily.
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| Mount Etna Volcanic Ash Cloud |
Etna is the highest active stratovolcano in Europe, located in Italy, on the east coast of Sicily. It is the 10th most important volcano on the planet. Height (very approximate) 3429 meters above sea level, it can change after the next eruption. Covers an area of 1550 sq. km (More than the volcano Vesuvius - 2.9 times). It has the shape of a cone with gentle lower and steeper upper slopes.
Differs in high activity. In the pauses between eruptions - the release of gases and water vapor. Frequent earthquakes. Up to a height of 800-900 meters on fertile volcanic soil - fields, gardens, vineyards, above - Mediterranean shrubs, forest areas (beech, oak, hornbeam, maple, black pine), thickets of barberry, astragalus. At an altitude of more than 1500 meters, Etna is covered with snow for several months.
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| Mount Etna Volcanic Ash Cloud |
History
600,000 years ago, there was a sea bay on the site of Etna, and volcanic activity began under water. As a result of numerous eruptions, a volcanic cone rose from the bottom. Etna built itself up over time, and as a result, a complex geological formation was created that cannot be called a separate volcano. This is, rather, an asymmetric volcanic complex, a whole mountain range. Repeated eruptions gave Etna a complex structure with dozens of secondary cones, vents and internal craters, of which there are over 270. The height of the mountain often changes, for example, after a powerful eruption in 1964, the volcano immediately grew by 50 meters.
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| Mount Etna Volcanic Ash Cloud |
About 6,000 years ago, the eastern side of the mountain broke off and collapsed into the sea. Presumably, this collapse led to the formation of a giant tsunami, traces of which can be found in various places in the Eastern Mediterranean. The next collapse of the top of the volcano probably occurred about a thousand years ago, forming a small caldera.
For a long time, Etna was known as Mogibello, some locals call the volcano that way to this day. At all times, an active volcano inspired, frightened and delighted. Pindar and Aeschylus wrote about the restless temper of the volcano. The ancient Greeks believed that this terrifying mountain, full of smoke, is nothing more than the forge of the god Hephaestus. There is even a legend about the death of the ancient philosopher Empedocles, who, for the purpose of a scientific experiment, allegedly descended into the crater to see what was happening there.