Stromboli

For other uses, see Stromboli (disambiguation).

Mt. Stromboli
Elevation	926 m (3,038 ft)
Prominence	Aeolian Islands]], north of Sicily (Italy)
Location
Coordinates	38°47′20″N 15°12′47″E / 38.789°N 15.213°E / 38.789; 15.213
Geology
Type	Stratovolcano
Age of rock	unknown
Last eruption	2011 (continuing) [1]
Climbing
Easiest route	Hike

Stromboli (Sicilian: Struògnuli, Ancient Greek: Strongulē) is a small island in the Tyrrhenian Sea, off the north coast of Sicily, containing one of the three active volcanoes in Italy. It is one of the eight Aeolian Islands, a volcanic arc north of Sicily. This name is a corruption of the Ancient Greek name Strongulē which was given to it because of its round swelling form. The island's population is between 400 and 850. The volcano has erupted many times, and is constantly active with minor eruptions, often visible from many points on the island and from the surrounding sea, giving rise to the island's nickname "Lighthouse of the Mediterranean". The last major eruption was on April 13, 2009. Stromboli stands 926 m (3,034 ft) above sea level,^[1] but actually rises over 2,000 m (6,500 ft) above the sea floor. There are three active craters at the peak. A significant geological feature of the volcano is the Sciara del Fuoco ("Stream of fire"), a big horseshoe-shaped depression generated in the last 13,000 years by several collapses on the northwestern side of the cone. Two kilometres to the northeast lies Strombolicchio, the volcanic plug remnant of the original volcano.

The volcano

Mt Stromboli has been in almost one continuous eruption for the past 20,000 years. This pattern of eruption has been maintained, in which explosions occur at the summit craters with mild to moderate eruptions of incandescent volcanic bombs at intervals ranging from minutes to hours. This characteristic Strombolian eruption, as it is known, is also observed at other volcanoes worldwide. Eruptions from the summit craters typically result in a few second-lasting mild energetic bursts emitting ash, incandescent lava fragments and lithic blocks up to a few hundred metres in height. Stromboli's activity is almost exclusively explosive, but lava flows do occur at times: an effusive eruption in 2002 was its first in 17 years.

The mildly explosive eruptions are also occasionally punctuated by much larger eruptions. The largest eruption of the last hundred years occurred in 1930, and resulted in the deaths of several people and the destruction of a number of houses by flying volcanic bombs. Large eruptions occur at intervals of years to decades, and the most recent large eruption began in 2002, causing the closure of the island to non-residents for several months. The eruption started with a lava flow (29 December 2002) along the "Sciara del Fuoco" flank that rapidly reached the sea. On 30 December 2002, a huge volume of rocks collapsed from the "Sciara del Fuoco" generating at least two landslides and many tsunami waves. The highest wave was 10 m high and caused serious damage at the Stromboli village. On 5 April 2003, a strong explosion from the summit crater ejected rocks that reached Ginostra village, damaging some houses. The eruption terminated in July 2003.

On 27 February 2000, two new craters opened on the island, with lava flowing into the sea from one of them. Ongoing eruptions at that time had become less predictable and consequently the summit was placed out of bounds to tourists, who flock to the island to observe the continuous eruption and flowing lava.

Geological history

Approx. 200,000 BC, before Stromboli reached sea level, there was an active volcano to its Northeast. Stromboli itself emerged from the sea in approx 160,000 BC, at what is now the southernmost part of the island. During this time, the volcano to the Northeast of Stromboli became inactive, and began to erode. The remnant of this volcano is now Strombolicchio, a volcanic plug of basalt.

Lava flows and pyroclastic deposits gradually built up a stratovolcano until approx. 50,000 BC, when the active centre of Stromboli shifted slightly to the Northwest, forming a cone approx. 700m above sea level. Lava bombs and deposits from lahars and pyroclastic flows formed the Scari complex to the Northeast, which were then covered by basalt lava flows during the Vancori period (approx. 26,000-13,000 BC). At this time there was likely a large summit crater or perhaps a caldera. This period ended with the collapse of the entire West and Northwest part of the volcano.

Basalt lava flows gradually rebuilt the West and Northwestern part of the volcano, while secondary eruptive centers led to the formation of the small shield Timpone Del Fuoco in the Western part of the island.

Between 10,000 and 5,000 B.C. the Northwestern slope of Stromboli collapsed again, with the landslide leaving behind a horseshoe shaped depression in the summit area. Deposits from this collapse can be found in the sea Northwest of the island to a depth of 2,000m. The lava flows and pyroclastic material that have begun to rebuild this part of the volcano give the island its present shape. ^[2]

See also

• List of volcanoes in Italy
• Stromboli (food)

References

1. ^ ^{a b} "Stromboli". Global Volcanism Program, Smithsonian Institution. http://www.volcano.si.edu/world/volcano.cfm?vnum=0101-04=. Retrieved 2009-01-01. 
2. ^ Alean, Jürg; Roberto Carniel; Marco Fulle (2005-05-21). "Geological Evolution of Stromboli (1)". Stromboli online. http://www.swisseduc.ch/stromboli/volcano/geol/geo1-en.html. Retrieved 31 August 2010. 

External links

• Stromboli Online
• Photo gallery of Stromboli eruptions.
• Watch video of spectacular Strombolian eruption on 5th April 2006
• Information about Stromboli and on its seismic monitoring network (italian)
• Live (30 min) Satellite Photo of Stromboli
• Live (3 min) Visible Light Webcam (SPV)
• Live (15 min) Infrared Webcam (SPI)
• Live (3 min) Visible Light Webcam (SQV)
• Live (15 min) Thermal Imaging Webcam (SQT)
• Italy's Volcanoes: The Cradle of Volcanology - Stromboli Online's sister site with detailed info on Italy's volcanoes, including Stromboli