Mount Etna emits thousands of perfect curls of smoke
Mount Etna in Sicily usually attracts attention with its powerful eruptions. But Europe's most active volcano is now unexpectedly showing a rare and graceful side.
Volcanic vortex rings rise above Mount Etna, April 5, 2024.
Photography: Giuseppe Di Stefano (Keystone)
Here you will find additional external content. If you consent to cookies being set by third-party service providers and that personal data is therefore transferred to third-party service providers, you can allow all cookies and view external content directly.
Etna – the most active volcano in Europe and which sometimes seems very dangerous – is currently making a completely different noise: the mountain with a height of more than 3,300 meters on the Italian island of Sicily in the Mediterranean Sea has been emitting curls of white smoke for a few days, causing it to then rise. Far up in the sky – unusually peaceful scenes. The so-called volcanic vortex rings come from a newly formed crater in the southeastern crater. They are caused by small explosions of gas bubbles in the narrow throat above the magma chamber.
This is not the first time we have seen such shapes over Etna: such rings were first mentioned 300 years ago, in 1724. However, this phenomenon occurs rarely, and when it does occur, it is not that frequent. Thousands of episodes have been observed since the new mouth was opened. Locals called Etna (Italian: Etna) “The Lord of the Rings” based on the novel “The Lord of the Rings” – in Italian, a female mountain (la montana).
The rings often have a perfect shape and remain visible for minutes before fading.
Photography: Giuseppe Di Stefano (Keystone)
The term volcanic vortex rings was coined by the English physicist William Thomson (1824-1907). Such rings have also been observed on another well-known Italian volcano, Stromboli on the island of the same name in the Mediterranean. According to experts, it is completely harmless and shows no signs of an impending eruption. Mount Etna is the largest active volcano in Europe. The height of the mountain is about 3,350 metres. However, the exact elevation changes again and again due to eruptions and volcanic cones.
Here you will find additional external content. If you consent to cookies being set by third-party service providers and that personal data is therefore transferred to third-party service providers, you can allow all cookies and view external content directly.
German volcanologist Boris Behnke – active on social networks as Etnaboris – wrote: “No volcano on Earth produces as many steam rings as Etna. It now appears to be breaking all records. The small crater opened on Tuesday. The expert from Since then, the mountain has produced thousands of rings, said the National Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology in Catania. He added on the X program: “Maybe it's because we've had a lot of bad news recently. So Etna decided to do something simply beautiful.
The smoke signals above Etna also attracted many locals and tourists near the mountain. Despite temperatures around 25 degrees, it is still early in the season in Sicily. In past centuries there have been frequent spectacular eruptions on Etna. In 1669, in what is believed to be the worst disaster, more than 20,000 people died there, according to historical records. At that time he was about to Dozens of cities were destroyed.
DPA/remote
Did you find an error? Report now.
“Tv specialist. Friendly web geek. Food scholar. Extreme coffee junkie.”
More Stories
Asylum and Migration Charter: Piet Jansz praises the agreement with the European Union on asylum reform
The National Council Committee wants to determine UNRWA's conditions for payments
Scottish Prime Minister Youssef resigns