Mt Etna

Geo assessment Mt Etna
An eruption begins when pressure on a magma chamber forces magma up through the conduit and out the volcano's vents. When the magma chamber has been completely filled, the pressure in the pipe will build up very high resulting in an explosion. When magma reaches earth's surface it is called lava. It may pour out in gentle streams called lava flows or erupt violently into the air. Rocks ripped loose from the inside of the volcano or torn apart by the gas may be shot into the air with the lava. These rocks are blown out of a volcano and are called volcanic bombs. Along with these bombs dust, ash, lava and cinder are released into the air. Volcanic activity is classified by how often a volcano erupts. A volcano may be active, dormant, or extinct. Active volcanoes erupt constantly. Dormant volcanoes are inactive, but not long enough to determine whether they will erupt again or not. Extinct volcanoes have been inactive since the beginning of recorded history.
Mount Etna is Europe's highest and most active volcano. It is at least 500,000 years old. It has had a series of volcanic eruptions, but even though it has violent eruptions, 25% of Sicily's population live on its slopes due to the fertile soil and the tourism. Mount Etna is located on the island of Sicily off the toe of Italy in Europe. It is a little over 11,000 feet high although its height varies from year to year because of volcanic eruptions. The closest inhabited city to Mt. Etna is Messina and Catania. It is the highest mountain in Italy south of the Alps. Etna covers an area of 460 square miles. This makes it by far the largest of the three active volcanoes in Italy.

In the 2001 eruption of Mount Etna Numerous blocks of white sandstone were blown out along with acidic lava, ash, dust, steam, Gas and volcanic bombs. It was a Dangerous and beautiful at the same time site. This is a quote from Francesco Barberi, head of the Italian Civil Protection Agency." The flow rate has dramatically increased", "In the next four hours, volcanologists would survey the mountain by helicopter. Evacuation plans were in preparation. We are not very confident" and "This was my fourth trip to Etna, and I have visited other volcanoes in Italy, Hawaii, Mexico, and Iceland. But never had I seen anything like this. I had watched the eruption's fireworks for hours, felt its explosions echo in my chest, brushed its rain of sandy ash from my hair, eyes, and ears, and sweated in its heat. Etna had been erupting for two weeks. It began on July 17, when the mountain shook with more than two thousand tremors. Rock was breaking deep within it, cracked and cloven by scalding gas and climbing magma. Within a week five vents had burst open on Etna's top and sides, spewing lava at 1,000 cubic feet a second."
This eruption, which involved activity from seven distinct eruptive fissures mostly on the south slope of the volcano, was a mass-media eruption, because it occurred at the height of the tourist season and numerous reporters and journalists were already in Italy to cover the G8 summit in Genoa. It also occurred close to one of the tourist areas on the volcano, and thus was easily accessible. Part of the "Etna Sud" tourist area, including the arrival station of the Etna cable car, were damaged by this eruption, which otherwise was a rather modest-sized event by Etna standards.
These volcanic eruptions happen due to the movement of the crust. The movement of earth's crust or plates can cause volcanoes to erupt due to Destructive plate Boundary. A destructive plate boundary happens where an oceanic and continental plate move towards each other. The heavier, denser oceanic plate is forced under the continental plate. As it sinks below the continental plate the oceanic plate melts due to friction in the subduction zone. The crust becomes molten called magma. This may be forced to the surface of the earth causing a volcanic eruption. Most Damage in Volcanic eruptions most of the damage is done by volcanic bombs, dust, ash, lava and cinder. Sicily is a Volcanic Island as it is surrounded by the Ocean and is on the very edge of the Eurasian Tectonic Plate, right next to The African plate. Whenever these 2 plates clash a volcano eruption occurs. These volcanoes are formed because of volcanic eruptions as well. Hidden beneath the seas, along a global system of mountain ridges, Earth’s plates are growing and spreading apart. Each year these oceanic spreading ridges erupt more than three times as much molten rock as do all the volcanoes on land. Magma rises from Earth’s mantle at spreading ridges and cools on and beneath the ocean floor, adding to the plates on either side. Layer over layer, they erupt, cool and form another layer. This is how Volcanoes are formed.

In this process Convection currents are also involved. Convection currents are caused by the very hot material at the deepest part of the mantle rising, then cooling, sinking again and then heating, rising and repeating the cycle over and over. Convection currents cause Continental Drifts. Continental drift is the gradual movement of the continents across the earth's surface through geological time.