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Part
4: September-October 2003
Battling
against Etna's weather, late October 2003
The
last field trip made with an excursion group in 2003 was scheduled for
late October, normally a period of stable, fine weather in the Etna
region. But this time things took a different course. Inclement weather
persisted for most of the time, curtailing much of the excursion program,
and forcing us to find alternative destinations. It was mainly due to
the good spirit of the members of the group (of the Open University
Geological Society, Mainland Europe branch - OUGS-ME) that the excursion
did not end up as a failure; certainly the fact that most of those people
live in a pretty rainy part of the world did help a lot. We eventually
managed to visit the 2002 eruptive fissure on the Northeast Rift and
the south flank of Etna, and make a few short trips to other areas on
the mountain. Among the highlights of the tour were the various stops
in restaurants around the volcano, where we enjoyed the specialty of
the season, fresh funghi porcini (boletus mushrooms), which
are of unbelievable quality.
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Excursion
group of the Open University Geological Society (Mainland Europe)
on the summit of Monte Sona, south flank of Etna. The upper part
of the volcano is hidden in dense cloud in the background. During
the one-week long field trip, this was one out of two days with
reasonably good weather conditions |
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Left:
pyroclastic cones and lava flow channel in the lowermost portion
of the 1911 eruptive fissure on the Northeast Rift
Right: the typical chaotic aspect of the 2002 lavas erupted from
the Northeast Rift. This flow lobe extended northeastward from the
lowest vents of the 2002 eruptive fissure and covered a section
of the Forest Guard road, which was reopened only in the summer
of 2003. Photos taken by Catherine Lemercier |
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Lava
flow of October 2002 passing on the eastern side of Monte Rosso
(the densely vegetated cone in right background) and cutting a
portion of the Forest Guard road (reopened shortly before this
visit). For many months between the 2002 eruption and the reopening
of the road, hikers were forced to struggle their way across this
lava field. Photo taken by Catherine Lemercier |
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Two
views of the prehistoric cone of Monte Rosso on the lower Northeast
Rift; lavas of the 2002 eruption in the foreground in left image
and 1923 lava flow is seen in the foreground in right photograph.
Photos taken by Catherine Lemercier |
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The
colors of autumn on Etna: these photographs (taken by Catherine
Lemercier) show the area between Monte Timparossa (seen in the
background of the images) and the Grotta dei Lamponi, on Etna's
north flank. The lavas in the foreground are mostly of the voluminous
1614-1624 eruption, while the dark lava tongues seen in the lower
right photograph were erupted in 1947 |
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One
of the most accessible lava caves of Etna, the Grotta dei Lamponi,
lies on the north flank of the volcano at about 1650 m elevation.
The main entrance to the cave is seen in the left and center images
(with some of the members of the OUGS-ME group); right photograph
shows a "skylight" in the roof of the cave and myself
standing on the floor of the cave. Photos taken by Catherine Lemercier |
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The
2002 eruptive fissure on the Northeast Rift revisited: these photographs
show the lower-central portion of the fissure, where a deep chasm
was opened, immediately below the vents that produced the first
major lava flow on 27 October 2002. The chasm opened a few hours
after those vents, and activity at the effusive vents subsided;
however, some still-fluid lava is seen to have cascaded into the
chasm in the right photograph. Left view is in downrift and right
view in uprift direction |
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Immediately
downrift from the chasm seen in the previous photographs, the October
2002 eruptive fissure cut through a steep slope (left) and then
propagated across an old crater (right), which was rapidly filled
by a shallow pond of lava |
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Two
panoramic views of the lava pond that formed during the Northeast
Rift eruption on 27 October 2002. This event occurred at about the
same time when all people watching the progress of the eruption
from Piano Provenzana were evacuated. Further propagation of the
fissure to the terrain east of Monte Nero (the large cone seen in
the background in the right-hand image) occurred later that day
and led to the opening of the most destructive vents close to Piano
Provenzana, which are seen in the center background of the left
image. Photographs taken by Catherine Lemercier |
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The
black lava flow seen in this photograph (taken by Catherine Lemercier)
was the first to reach Piano Provenzana on 27 October 2002. It advanced
very rapidly and caused the total evacuation of the tourist area,
which was inundated by lava flows from lower vents later that day |
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Left:
eruptive vents in the lowermost portion of the October 2002 eruptive
fissure (foreground), which became active late on 27 October 2002.
In the background lies the large pyroclastic cone of Monte Nero
(1646-1647 eruption); the lower hills to the right of it were formed
during the same eruption
Right: the last section of the 2002 eruptive fissure opened during
the night of 27-28 October, and here the most productive vents became
active, which poured out most of the lava of this eruption. The
lava that destroyed Piano Provenzana, only a few hundred meters
away, came from these vents. Photographs taken by Catherine Lemercier |
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These
images show the impressive vents and associated lava flow channels
that brought devastation to Piano Provenzana. Monte Nero is seen
in the background in the left image. Photographs taken by Catherine
Lemercier |
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Panoramic
view of the Piano Provenzana area, one year after the devastating
eruption on the nearby Northeast Rift. The black lava field in the
center of the image formed during the one-week long eruption between
27 October and 5 November 2002; new roads have been traced upon
the lava marking the first step of the long and difficult reconstruction
of the tourist center. In the background lie the Peloritani mountains,
and still further distant at left, the Aspromonte massif of southern
Calabria. Photo taken by Catherine Lemercier |
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Suggestive
views of Etna from northwest, with thin strata of clouds drifting
below the summit craters |
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A
popular tourist attraction, this house was surrounded by a lava
flow erupted on the south flank of Etna in 1983. The nearby access
road to the tourist facilities around the Rifugio Sapienza was buried
by the same lava flow and was reopened to traffic only twelve years
later, in 1995. At that time, all the rooftiles were still present
and intact, but many visitors in the 9 years since then have taken
nearly all the rooftiles as souvenirs, and it is only the naked
carcass of concrete that remains now - photograph taken on 30 October
2003 |
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Impressions
of Etna's south flank, 30 October 2003.
Left: the small cone built at the lowermost fissure of the 2001
eruption stands silently in a dark landscape covered with lavas
and ash of the eruptions of 2001 and 2002-2003, with the Montagnola
in the left background
Center: View over lava fields of the 1766 and 1892 eruptions, covered
with black ash of the 2002-2003 eruption, and the irregular crater
of Monte Serra Pizzuta Calvarina in the left background
Right: the most advanced portion of the July-August 2001 lava flow
(erupted from the vent seen in left photograph) forms a dark ribbon
in a landscape dominated by older lava flows and vegetated cones.
This flow stopped 4 km short of the town of Nicolosi, which lies
behind the distant, twin-peaked cone of the Monti Rossi (seen in
right distance). The gray lava flow in the foreground is of 1910
and advanced much further downslope. Photo was taken from Monte
Sona, looking SSE |
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Scenes
from the Monti Rossi, the large cone formed during the 1669 eruption
near Nicolosi, on Etna's south flank.
Left: view over the northern portion of the crater of the Monti
Rossi, showing notch in the crater rim. The cone and crater of the
Monti Rossi have been reforested to create some kind of a public
recreation area for the Nicolosi residents
Center: peculiar rock formation immediately below the eastern peak
of the Monti Rossi cone, consisting of scoriae cemented by fumarolic
deposits
Right: a similar outcrop of fumarolized scoriae within the crater
has been transformed into a small shrine dedicated to S. Agata,
the patron saint of Catania |
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About
1.5 km south of the Monti Rossi, another youthful cone rises from
the densely populated area of Nicolosi, Mompilieri. This cone was
allegedly formed during an eruption about 695 B.C. although a lava
flow also attributed to that eruption is of prehistoric age. Nonetheless,
the morphology of the cone indicates a fairly young age. A new residential
area lies between the Monti Rossi and Mompilieri, not exactly in
a safe place: this area was entirely covered by lavas of the 1669
Monti Rossi eruption |
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