etnaboris
Look, look
The first thing that happened was a strange, crackling noise coming from the Bocca Nuova, unlike the typical eruption noise I am used to hear at Etna. After a moment I understood that this was the clattering of falling rocks, which had been thrown up by one of the numerous small explosions that are occurring at the Bocca Nuova since 10 days.
A moment later, a pinkish-gray plume of ash started to rise above the crater rim, and all the people who were around got quite agitated. We were at Torre del Filosofo, once a building meant to become a mountain hut (which it never did), now some sort of miniature Pompeii at nearly 3000 m elevation on the south flank of Etna. The building lies largely buried under volcanic scoriae from a nearby crater that formed in late-2002. Tourists who take the cable-car/4WD-bus package are brought there in thousands on a sunny day like this.
All eyes were transfixed on the plume that gently rose into the blue sky, and thousands of digital photographs were taken. Among the observers were four young Italians who had participated and won bronze at the "Science Olympics"; with them was an accompanying scientist, and then there were three of us INGV-Catania staff, one seismologist and two volcanologist including yours truly.
As a matter of fact, this was a spectacular but minor event; no rocks were thrown beyond the crater rim, and all the material was - as it has been since the start of these ash emissions on 14 June - old, altered, pulverized rock from the crater floor.
Along with the sporadic ash emissions from the Bocca Nuova, there were vigorous, rhythmic gas emissions from the Northeast Crater, and, on a smaller scale, from the "New Southeast Crater", the vent that liest on the east flank of the "Old Southeast Crater" cone and has already produced four intensely beautiful paroxysms this year, most recently on 12 May. Some of the emissions from this vent produced minor amounts of ash. It is well possible that these emissions from the "New Southeast Crater" are the first signs of a new paroxysm that might occur in the next few days, and this is causing a lot of excitation among volcano aficionados both locally and worldwide. Because, when the Southeast Crater erupts, it's The Greatest Show On Earth.
Photo taken with a Nikon L110 from near Torre del Filosofo, at 10:57 (local time = GMT+2) on 23 June 2011
To better understand the configuration of Etna's summit craters, see this aerial view that I took 3 years ago from a helicopter.
This particular ash emission occurred at 06:51 h (local time = GMT+2) on 23 June 2011 and was photographed from my home in Trecastagni, about 15 km southeast of Etna's summit.
The Etna monitoring camera of the INGV-Catania on the Schiena dell'Asino (southeast flank of Etna)
Look, look
The first thing that happened was a strange, crackling noise coming from the Bocca Nuova, unlike the typical eruption noise I am used to hear at Etna. After a moment I understood that this was the clattering of falling rocks, which had been thrown up by one of the numerous small explosions that are occurring at the Bocca Nuova since 10 days.
A moment later, a pinkish-gray plume of ash started to rise above the crater rim, and all the people who were around got quite agitated. We were at Torre del Filosofo, once a building meant to become a mountain hut (which it never did), now some sort of miniature Pompeii at nearly 3000 m elevation on the south flank of Etna. The building lies largely buried under volcanic scoriae from a nearby crater that formed in late-2002. Tourists who take the cable-car/4WD-bus package are brought there in thousands on a sunny day like this.
All eyes were transfixed on the plume that gently rose into the blue sky, and thousands of digital photographs were taken. Among the observers were four young Italians who had participated and won bronze at the "Science Olympics"; with them was an accompanying scientist, and then there were three of us INGV-Catania staff, one seismologist and two volcanologist including yours truly.
As a matter of fact, this was a spectacular but minor event; no rocks were thrown beyond the crater rim, and all the material was - as it has been since the start of these ash emissions on 14 June - old, altered, pulverized rock from the crater floor.
Along with the sporadic ash emissions from the Bocca Nuova, there were vigorous, rhythmic gas emissions from the Northeast Crater, and, on a smaller scale, from the "New Southeast Crater", the vent that liest on the east flank of the "Old Southeast Crater" cone and has already produced four intensely beautiful paroxysms this year, most recently on 12 May. Some of the emissions from this vent produced minor amounts of ash. It is well possible that these emissions from the "New Southeast Crater" are the first signs of a new paroxysm that might occur in the next few days, and this is causing a lot of excitation among volcano aficionados both locally and worldwide. Because, when the Southeast Crater erupts, it's The Greatest Show On Earth.
Photo taken with a Nikon L110 from near Torre del Filosofo, at 10:57 (local time = GMT+2) on 23 June 2011
To better understand the configuration of Etna's summit craters, see this aerial view that I took 3 years ago from a helicopter.
This particular ash emission occurred at 06:51 h (local time = GMT+2) on 23 June 2011 and was photographed from my home in Trecastagni, about 15 km southeast of Etna's summit.
The Etna monitoring camera of the INGV-Catania on the Schiena dell'Asino (southeast flank of Etna)