Climbing Mount Etna

Like an alien world

Sep. 2, 2017 - Willem L. Middelkoop

Last week me and my wife went to Sicily for a little summer holiday. It is the largest island in the Mediterranean Sea. It is an autonomous region of Italy, along with surrounding minor islands. It's home to Europe's largest active volcano: Mount Etna. We had a chance to visit this lava spurring monstrosity and it was quite the experience.

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Our guide, Peppe, uncovers some dark patches on the crater. Steam escapes from it - you can literally feel the heat!

The view is spectacular.

Etna is big enough to see it from space (NASA Earth Observatory)

Lateral crater from 2001 - but if you look closely you'll notice many additional craters further below

Overview of tectonic plates (image: USGS)

The white/yellow on the Etna summit is sulphite - not gold... according to our guide

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