What a mess! Sure, she's beautiful when she erupts - but the mess she leaves behind is debilitating! There's so much ash all over it's unreal! You can follow Etna through the last couple of years at this link:
right now I can see the vulcano Etna from my hotel window spreading red lava and It is quite exciting because we were there this right morning...lovely to watch from our window. It is 22.25pm april 23th 2012.
New activity has started yesterday afternoon from the New SE crater. Several relatively intense explosive ash emissions were observed from the summit vent of the cone. They produced dense ash plumes rising about 200 m. More explosions occurred during the night, separated by intervals varying from 20 minutes to about 2 hours, during which strong degassing continued and the fumarolic area at the crater rim remained incandescent. ...plus
The tremor showed a light increase during the night, but it is not clear at the moment, if this is already a precursor to yet another paroxysm. [moins]
Today is a very sad day for all free people who like Etna: Etna has become a "forbidden volcano". ...plus
Maybe intimidated by the recent lava fountains of Etna, the Prefecture of Catania has decided to take strict measures and published a strict ruleset what is allowed and what not, to protect us from the dangerous volcano: 4 volcanic hazard and alert levels, ranging from "Normal" to "Alarm" were defined and decide which kind of activity will be allowed in the future on the volcano. [moins]
Lava fountain from Etna's New SE crater during the 9th paroxysm (Photo: Boris Behncke)
Exploding lava bubbles during the first phase of the paroxysm (Photo: Boris Behncke)
As expected, Etna's New SE Crater produced a new episode of lava fountaining (paroxysm) on 3 April 2013. It was the 34th paroxysm since January 2011 at Etna and according to eyewitnesses, it was the loudest such eruption ever witnessed in recent years. "Especially toward the end, Etna thundered, growled, howled, yelled like a gigantic beast in agony. It almost hurt your ears at a distance of 6.4 km." ...plus
The build-up phase lasted several hours, and produced many extremely powerful explosions of exploding liquid lava bubbles that threw bombs to all over the New SE crater cone. After a few hours, these explosions finally merged into sustained lava fountains that rose hundreds of meters above the cone. A large ash plume drifted to the SE where heavy fallout of scoria occurred. [moins]
It seems almost certain that a new paroxysmal eruption is in the making at the New SE crater of Etna. Tremor has started to rise sharply and reached already 5 times background level. You can follow the events live at webcams.volcanodiscovery.com/Etna.
White sandstone xenolith from the 16 Mar New SE paroxysm
Closer inspection of the "white lava" reported in yesterday's news revealed that these were so-called xenoliths, i.e. no lava at all, but pieces of sedimentary rock from strata underlying the volcano brought up by the rising magma. In this case, they are pieces of barely compacted beach sandstone, similar to the xenoliths ejected during the flank eruptions in 2011 and 2012, which are believed to have trapped a different (so-called eccentric) shallow magma chamber beneath the volcano. To find such xenoliths as produces of eruptions from the SUMMIT craters is highly unusual and could (*speculation*) indicate that the latest, violent, eruptive episode has actually involved a different magma reservoir as well. ...plus
Fresh snow has now covered much of the bombs from the recent eruption. [moins]
Sample of the White Lava erupted during the 16 Mar paroxysm (OPEC)
The usual black lava from Etna (sample from the 16 Mar paroxysm) (OPEC)
Etna volcano might have begun a process of deep transformation in its eruption style, new scientific studies suggest. ...plus
During a recent field trip in order to sample the lava erupted during the latest New SE crater paroxysm on 16 March 2013, members of OPEC (Osservatorio Privato Etneo di Catania) found, along with the usual basaltic black lava commonly erupted pieces of the extremely rare so-called "white lava" (see photo). This white lava was first seen as occasional xenoliths during the excentric flank eruptions in 2011 and 2012, but never since until now. First macroscopic inspection revealed that it is a special variety of light-colored quartz-rich basalt, normally only produced by submarine volcanoes under certain circumstances (e.g. the restingolitas from the El Hierro 2011-12 La Restinga submarine eruption). [moins]
It seems that a new paroxysm is in the making. The tremor signal is showing a pronounced rise, typical for the beginning of the New SE crater paroxysms.
Another paroxysmal eruption (the 7th in a row this year so far) occurred from the New SE crater during the night. Following a period of increasing strombolian activity, large lava fountains were rising from vent in the saddle between the old and new SE crater as well its summit vent.
Strombolian activity from Voragine continued this night, and also ash eruptions from the New SE crater were seen this morning. This could be a precursor of a new paroxysm in a near future.
The 5th paroxysm of the New SE crater is occurring. Tall lava fountains are erupting from the fissure vent of the New SE crater. This time, the eruption is much bigger than the previous ones. Judging from webcam images, lava fountains might be reaching one km in height.
3 peaks of the tremor amplitude represent the paroxysmal eruptions (INGV)
Etna had no less than 3 paroxysms (particularly violent brief eruptive episodes) with lava fountains, lava flows and tall ash plumes from the New SE crater within the past 20 hours (so far). ...plus
This marks a change from the previous 9-month period characterized by intermittent mild to moderate, but often long-lasting periods of strombolian activity. With much likelihood, more paroxysms could be expected in the near future. [moins]
What had started last night evolved into the first true paroxysmal eruption of 2013, marked by tall lava fountains and lava flows from the New SE crater.
Vigorous eruptive activity has started at the Bocca Nuova crater and at the time of updating, it is strongly increasing. Tremor has started a steep rise, typical for a paroxysm. ...plus
A new eruptive phase has started at Bocca Nuova. Since this morning, small ash emissions have been observed and now at night, glow can be seen. The tremor signal has been rising as well.
Photo of Strombolian activity at the New SE crater of Etna. Image taken at 4:30 (local time) by Boris Behncke
After a brief period of activity at the Bocca Nuova crater, strombolian activity shifted to the New SE crater on the night of 22 January. This much stronger activity has continued into 23 January.
This night at around 1:00 am local time, eruptive activity, most likely strombolian eruptions from the eastern vent, resumed in the Bocca Nuova, accompanied by a rise in tremor. Images indicate that the activity gradually increased untiil about 3:15 and the stabilized.
