Mount Etna

Mount Etna
Etna with the city of Catania in the foreground (December 2007)
Highest point
Elevation3,357 m (11,014 ft)(varies)[1][2]
Prominence3,357 m (11,014 ft)
Ranked 56th
Isolation998.79 km (620.62 mi) Edit this on Wikidata
ListingUltra
Coordinates37°45.3′N 14°59.7′E / 37.7550°N 14.9950°E / 37.7550; 14.9950[1]
Naming
Native nameMuncibbeḍḍu (Sicilian)
Geography
Mount Etna is located in Sicily
Mount Etna
Mount Etna
Mount Etna is located in Italy
Mount Etna
Mount Etna
Mount Etna (Italy)
Geology
Age of rock350,000 – 500,000 years
Mountain typeStratovolcano
Last eruption11 November 2023[3]
CriteriaNatural: viii
Reference1427
Inscription2013 (37th Session)
Area19,237 ha
Buffer zone26,220 ha

Mount Etna, or simply Etna (Italian: Etna [ˈɛtna] or Mongibello [mondʒiˈbɛllo]; Sicilian: Muncibbeḍḍu [mʊntʃɪbˈbɛɖɖʊ] or 'a Muntagna; Latin: Aetna; Ancient Greek: Αἴτνα and Αἴτνη[4]), is an active stratovolcano on the east coast of Sicily, Italy, in the Metropolitan City of Catania, between the cities of Messina and Catania. It is located above the convergent plate margin between the African Plate and the Eurasian Plate. It is one of the tallest active volcanoes in Europe,[5] and the tallest peak in Italy south of the Alps with a current height (July 2021) of 3,357 m (11,014 ft),[2] though this varies with summit eruptions. Over a six-month period in 2021, Etna erupted so much volcanic material that its height increased by approximately 100 ft (30 m), and the southeastern crater is now the tallest part of the volcano.[6]

Etna covers an area of 1,190 km2 (459 sq mi) with a basal circumference of 140 km (87 miles). This makes it by far the largest of the three active volcanoes in Italy, being about two and a half times the height of the next largest, Mount Vesuvius. Only Mount Teide on Tenerife in the Canary Islands surpasses it in the whole of the European–North-African region west of the Black Sea.[7]

In Greek mythology, the deadly monster Typhon was trapped under this mountain by Zeus, the god of the sky and thunder and king of gods, and the forges of Hephaestus were said also to be underneath it.[8]

Mount Etna is one of the world's most active volcanoes and is in an almost constant state of activity. The fertile volcanic soils produced from this activity support extensive agriculture, with vineyards and orchards spread across the lower slopes of the mountain and the broad Plain of Catania to the south.[9] Due to its history of recent activity and nearby population, Mount Etna has been designated a Decade Volcano by the United Nations.[10] In June 2013, it was added to the list of UNESCO World Heritage Sites.[11]

Multidirectional Hillshade relief of Mount Etna
February 2021 eruption seen from Naval Air Station Sigonella
  1. ^ a b The elevation varies with volcanic activity. The volcano last erupted 21 May 2023. It is frequently given as 3,350 m (10,990 ft), but many sources that support this concede that this is approximate. The coordinates given, which are consistent with SRTM data, are from a 2005 GPS survey. The elevation data are based on a LIDAR (Light Detection and Ranging) survey carried out in June 2007, see Neri, M.; et al. (2008), "The changing face of Mount Etna's summit area documented with Lidar technology", Geophysical Research Letters, 35 (9): L09305, Bibcode:2008GeoRL..35.9305N, doi:10.1029/2008GL033740
  2. ^ a b Pezzella, Francesca. "L'Etna si supera. Nuovo record di altezza a 3357 metri". www.ingv.it (in Italian). Archived from the original on 10 August 2021. Retrieved 10 August 2021.
  3. ^ "Italy's Mount Etna Volcano Erupted Again — See the Stunning Photos". Travel and Leisure. Retrieved 19 February 2024.
  4. ^ Suda, alphaiota, 375
  5. ^ "Etna & Aeolian Islands 2012 – Cambridge Volcanology". www.volcano.group.cam.ac.uk. October 2012.
  6. ^ Laura Geggel (16 August 2021). "Mount Etna is 100 feet taller than it was 6 months ago". Space.com.
  7. ^ "Italy volcanoes and Volcanics". USGS. Archived from the original on 1 July 2011.
  8. ^ Aelian, Hist. An. xi. 3, referenced under Aetnaeus in William Smith's Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology
  9. ^ Thomaidis, Konstantinos; Troll, Valentin R.; Deegan, Frances M.; Freda, Carmela; Corsaro, Rosa A.; Behncke, Boris; Rafailidis, Savvas (2021). "A message from the 'underground forge of the gods': history and current eruptions at Mt Etna". Geology Today. 37 (4): 141–149. Bibcode:2021GeolT..37..141T. doi:10.1111/gto.12362. ISSN 1365-2451. S2CID 238802288.
  10. ^ "Decade Volcanoes". United States Geological Survey.
  11. ^ Mount Etna Becomes a World Heritage Site, Italy Magazine, 4 May 2013

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