Stromboli, Mt. Etna

     May 2009  

 


 

One year ago I visited Stromboli. Since this time the summit appearance changed a lot and the activity at present was rather high, what you can see in the report of Thorsten. Therefore I decided a short trip to the volcano. After a long bad weather phase the weather changed to the full moon phase to its positive. Even a southern wind provided a dry and clear air which dissolved the notorious steam bell of the Stromboli craters. Beside that, the Stromboli activity has been in the best mood.

 

      

But the eruptions were no longer on that high-energy level as still as a few weeks before, but the activity was particularly multiform. Ash eruptions and ejection of large cinders in an interval of only few minutes didn’t let you get bored.

    

  

Fascinating were also the spontaneous, bubble like lava ejections at the beginning of an explosion. Under a loud bang often a radial ejection with enormously high speed and wide range took place at the western hole of the east pipe.

 

     

  

After the complete blockage from April was released in the meantime you can work the whole night relatively relaxed.

  

     

      

  

     

The upraising lava quantity was much enough, to give in order during the daylight the sufficient red contrast.

     


Mt. Etna impressions

Because the journey took place over Catania the opportunity existed to visit the unspectacular however nevertheless enormously persevering lava stream in the Valle de Bove. The way from the cable car way to the new eruption was simple and harmless, and it showed also fresh traces in the still plentifully existing snow. Numerous from there photographed and published pictures show the well-known, but at present inactive small craters along the crack. However the descent to the lava discharges some hundred meters down was rather riskily and rarely implemented. Particularly the transition from the snow into the warm loosen AA-lava brought a high risk of breaking thought. The one or other AA-lava-embrace was quasi pre-programmed…

 

     

     

Although the numerous and rather small lava out-pours seemed very calmly and only a little dramatically, the landscape with the special red-light tendency was phenomenal. Particularly at night, when the area dipped into a multiplicity of colours the temperature dropped down with an unbelievable speed far under the minus range, and all small creeks suddenly got frozen.

More at ALPE, images by M.Rietze

 

Etna    Stromboli    Volcano world    Cinema

From Etna to Stromboli     Planets & Space

©2009 Photos and text by M.Rietze, web by Boeckel, last modification 05.26.2009


This private, non-commercial web site do not use cookies !

 IMPRESSUM      PRIVACY     DATENSCHUTZ