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Report on Stromboli (Italy) — 3 August-9 August 2011


Stromboli

Smithsonian Institution / US Geological Survey
Weekly Volcanic Activity Report, 3 August-9 August 2011
Managing Editor: Sally Sennert.

Please cite this report as:

Global Volcanism Program, 2011. Report on Stromboli (Italy) (Sennert, S, ed.). Weekly Volcanic Activity Report, 3 August-9 August 2011. Smithsonian Institution and US Geological Survey.

Weekly Report (3 August-9 August 2011)

Stromboli

Italy

38.789°N, 15.213°E; summit elev. 924 m

All times are local (unless otherwise noted)


Sezione di Catania - Osservatorio Etneo reported that during the morning of 9 August a new episode of weak spattering occurred on Stromboli's crater terrace, generating a small intra-crater lava flow. The source vent was located in the central portion of the crater terrace. Regular explosive activity also continued from the vents located in the N and S parts of the crater terrace. Spattering continued into the afternoon, then ceased.

Geological Summary. Spectacular incandescent nighttime explosions at Stromboli have long attracted visitors to the "Lighthouse of the Mediterranean" in the NE Aeolian Islands. This volcano has lent its name to the frequent mild explosive activity that has characterized its eruptions throughout much of historical time. The small island is the emergent summit of a volcano that grew in two main eruptive cycles, the last of which formed the western portion of the island. The Neostromboli eruptive period took place between about 13,000 and 5,000 years ago. The active summit vents are located at the head of the Sciara del Fuoco, a prominent scarp that formed about 5,000 years ago due to a series of slope failures which extends to below sea level. The modern volcano has been constructed within this scarp, which funnels pyroclastic ejecta and lava flows to the NW. Essentially continuous mild Strombolian explosions, sometimes accompanied by lava flows, have been recorded for more than a millennium.

Source: Sezione di Catania - Osservatorio Etneo (INGV)