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Report on Stromboli (Italy) — 27 February-5 March 2013


Stromboli

Smithsonian Institution / US Geological Survey
Weekly Volcanic Activity Report, 27 February-5 March 2013
Managing Editor: Sally Sennert.

Please cite this report as:

Global Volcanism Program, 2013. Report on Stromboli (Italy) (Sennert, S, ed.). Weekly Volcanic Activity Report, 27 February-5 March 2013. Smithsonian Institution and US Geological Survey.

Weekly Report (27 February-5 March 2013)

Stromboli

Italy

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

All times are local (unless otherwise noted)


Stromboli again produced small lava overflows from the crater terrace on the afternoon of 27 February through the following night, after an interval of 10 days of normal Strombolian activity. A second episode of lava overflow started on the evening of 1 March and ceased the next afternoon. Both overflows were fed by continuous spattering from vent N2, which lies at the top of a hornito perched on the N rim of the crater terrace.

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)