Visiting Sicily, Italy

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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One can only image the forces of nature judging by these craters.

An overview of the craters - notice how it is kept up to date :-)

Overview of tectonic plates (image: USGS)

Mount Etna

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

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

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Articles (155)

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