Evidently Erin would like me to continue to blog. For the next two days, we both will
contribute to the blog, each both contributing our expertise. So here it goes.... Exploring Etna was
incredible, awesome, amazing and just plain fun!!! There is my expertise!
Ok - I will add a little more to it. On Wednesday, it was just Erin and I. We left around 8:30 in the morning; Etna
ended up not being too far away. It was a nice sunny day and had some clouds
around Etna but over all good. Boris, in
giving us directions said go up, then keep going up. That basically describes it. We just kept
climbing and climbing. As a side note
that there were many people were parked along the roadside and they were
collecting chestnuts and mushrooms, both very popular here on the island. On this day, we took one of the switchbacks
and we popped out of the clouds and it was totally sunny and clear! The clouds, fluffy and white, below us. It was an incredible view from the car. I'm
used to seeing from a plane but not in the car!
There is this little tourist village at the base:
restaurants and shops plus the cable car.
We purchase our tickets not only for the cable car but for the
all-terrain vehicles up on top. This is
the 4th cable car built on this location: all the others being destroyed by
lava. Each cable car lasted only 10 years or so before being destroyed. This cable car is in its 8th year. Ummmm...
Makes you wonder. So as we go up, you see where the old lava flows were. Volcanic ash covers everything but then there
are areas like rivers where you see the old lava flows. The lava is the thick and chunky kind. It moved very slowly. So the cable cars bring us very high on the
mountain and ends. There is a shop and
restaurant there.
So,
what mom means when she says the lava is the thick and chunky kind is that it
was aa lava. This kind of lava is gas rich and very viscous, or sticky, so it
does, as she says, move very slowly. This type of lava is very typical of Etna,
at least as of the past 100 years. You see, Etna has been changing in its
activity style for the past 100 years or so. While it was once very similar to
Kilauea on Hawaii, it is now much more explosive, and each of its eruptions
does something new, to surprise the volcanologists working on it.
From there, we take the all-terrain vehicle up the
switch-backs still getting closer to the top.
But we are prevented by law to go to the top as it is not safe. It can change from day to day. They gather us and show us this partial
building that was covered with lava except for this partial side. You can
witness steam escaping out one of the windows.
Then we headed to one do the lower craters and it too had steam
escaping. The guide explained that this
was once active but now the lava tube is now sealed off so it will never erupt
from this site again.
It’s
the conduit that is sealed off. Not the tube. Silly mom. Anyway, this is true
of all of the flank cones, or cones on the sides (flanks), on Etna, of which
there are over 300! Each of them had a conduit, or something to connect them to
the magma chamber, which was active while they were erupting, but which became
extinct after the cones eruption finished. So, none of the flank cones on Etna
will ever erupt again.
Erin was very interested in all that he said. He had a new best friend for the next 20
minutes. He was very gracious to her
and truly appreciated her interest. He
also told us that we could walk to the March 4, 2012 lava flow, as long as we
stayed on the path. So we were off
exploring, looking at the various coloration of stones and what the lava flow
looked like.
I
loved going up to the March 4th flow! It was fantastic! I’ve never
seen a lava flow that young! This flow was part of the series of very violent
and short eruptions, or paroxysms, that formed the new southeast crater. This flow,
if I remember correctly, was formed from a fissure opening along the base of
the new southeast crater. I’ve seen videos…and it looks SO COOL!!! I wish I had
been there!
Then it was back down to the cable car area. We grabbed a
quick bite for lunch and then down we went to the bottom. It was sad to leave Etna, not knowing if I
would be back. We did a little souvenir
shopping and then it was back home. It
was a completely awesome day and was so happy to have shared the experience
with Erin. Be watching for our Christmas
card as no doubt, you will see an Etna picture on it!
Later that night, Erin heard from Boris that he and a
coworker were planning on going to the top of Etna the next day and we could
ride along. Where and how far up would
depend on how safe it was and we would have to wear hard hats. The next day we were to meet them at 10:00 at
the tourist village.
Thursday, October 18th
You could have put a bet on the fact that Erin and would be
on time! It was a sure thing! We hopped in their car and off we went to
Mama Etna, as Boris calls her. Each
volcano has a personality and Etna has one plus she creates many baby
craters. From high above the world, you
can see the many, many craters over the flanks of Etna, indicating where the
fissure cracks are.
Well
mom, that’s not what the flank craters mean. Just because there’s a crater, it doesn’t
mean there’s a fissure, as a fissure is a crack in the surface of the Earth,
that penetrates much deeper. A fissure eruption doesn’t usually form a cone, it
just lets lava seep out. These cones are places that the magma from the magma
chamber of Etna (or one of them, not really sure how that works) find a
conduit, or a path, to the surface. After finding this conduit, the lava then
usually begins to erupt violently until it forms these cones. The lava usually
bursts through, and cools rapidly in the air, becoming rocks (usually) before
it hits the ground. These rocks are called volcanic bombs!
So once in the car, we climb and climb, passing the cable
station and going beyond...to the all-terrain area and then beyond. It was rugged and beautiful and
fascinating! We made it to the other
side and Boris pulled off. This is where
we would begin our hike. And let me tell you it was all uphill! It was long and hard for me but eventually we
made it to the crater and there was vapor/steam all around. There were many fumaroles at the top as
well. It was an incredible site! But
then we heard Mama Etna speak. She hadn't been heard for a time so Boris
decided that they must go further up to the new southeast crater but we could
not come, as they did not know what they would find. So Erin and I took pictures and made
ourselves comfortable but soon Mama was talking quite a bit. To us it appeared that the output of vapor
increased, but we do not know Mama Etna.
Boris soon arrived back and he was going to walk more towards the other
side of this crater to try to determine who was speaking but the gases got bad
and we stopped. There may be new
activity here and it is most exciting! Time will tell!
Most
of what we heard that day was just gas emission sounds. But I will swear to it
that we heard one weak Strombolian eruption, as Boris later informed me that
there were some weak eruptions that night in the Bocca Nuova.
We
were incredibly lucky to get to go where we did, as we could see 2 of the
summit craters from their bases. Well, from one of their bases, and the top of
the other. The summit cone whose base we were at was the northeast crater,
which is the oldest of the technically four summit craters and the tallest! The
crater that we were at the top of was the Voragine, or the big mouth! This one
is technically the second oldest of the four currently there, and has been
quiet since 1999,when it blew and gave off a HUGE paroxysm, that was kilometers
taller than the northeast crater! Though, apparently the Voragine may be waking
up, as it seemed that some of the noises we heard were coming from the
Voragine, and other mountain guides thought they’d heard some activity of some
kind within it.
From
our location while Boris and Antonio (Volcanologist-on-Duty and Volcanologist
Aide) continued their exploration, we could also see just a teeny bit of the
third crater, and the backside of the fourth. The third crater is the Buocca
Nuova. It is now nearly entirely connected to the Voragine, as the 1999 eruption
of the Voragine blew out the Diaframma (Diaphragm in English), which was the
rock wall that separated the two craters. Part of the Diaframma remains intact,
and is now a really cool spiny rock wall that ends mid-way through the width of
the Voragine. The fourth crater is the southeast crater. This is the youngest
of the four. It is where most of the activity has been for the past 10 years or
more. It is also growing and changing still, though no longer as what is called
the southeast crater.
 |
| The Diaframma |
 |
| The Southeast Crater |
The
new southeast crater is my favorite! It is the fastest growing cone ever
recorded! It grew within the past year or so, in a series of 25 paroxysms that
all together lasted only 48 hours! It began forming on the base of the
southeast crater and began, as each of the summit craters did, as a small
collapse pit. Now, to make it even cooler than it already is, it has a small
collapse pit on its rim, which may be the beginning of a new cone, or maybe
just part of the cone, preparing to form!
 |
| The Southeast Crater on the Left and the New Southeast Crater on the Right! |
It now as I must
catch my plane and there is no more to do, we depart. We move fast down through the ash. My old arthritic knees do their best to keep
up. And soon we are having a beer at the
bottom and some pizza to go with it and saying good bye to new friends.
I drop Erin off at her place and it was straight to the
airport. I actually made it all by
myself! Navigated and drove and I didn't
get lost once! The airport area was a little scary but soon I recognized the
rental car area. I returned the car
without problems and found the airport and where I was to check in. But the catch is, you can only check in two
hours in advance so I was a little early so I had to stand around until the
person arrived. Once checked in, I could go back to the gate area.
My flight was slightly late but soon I was in Naples and
finally get the 4 Seasons, the same B & B that Erin stayed at. I am sure glad that Erin explained on week
nights the big door would not be opened so I had to use the intercom and come
through the small door. So imagine
this.... Behind this big, big set of
doors is a court yard area with small businesses, apartments and this B&B. In the big, big door (semi-truck big) there
is a tiny door maybe 5 feet tall that once buzzed in or if you have a key you
can enter. But on the weekend, there is
a security guard and the big, big door stays open. So this is Thursday, so I
get buzzed through the door and there is this guy, he gives me 3 keys. They
still use the old fashion big keys! A key for the small door in the big, big
door, a B&B door key and my room door key.
This key also works on the bathroom door. The bathroom door remains locked. Not really sure why it is kept locked but
that is what I think the guy said. Then
he left. It wasn't until the following
afternoon when I got home from exploring that there was a new guy there and he
mentioned Erin and collected money. It was
surprising how at home I felt and comfortable I was there. I am now at the Ramada Inn and it appears to
be in a not so good part of town, nothing around, and employees who are just
doing their job and not much more. I
miss the 4 Seasons!
No comments:
Post a Comment