- News

Italy’s Mt Etna detected erupting from space

(Text from the European Space Agency media release in italics) Europe’s largest active volcano, Mount Etna on the Italian island of Sicily, erupted briefly yesterday sending flames and ash hundreds of metres into the air.

The below image, which was acquired by the Atmospheric Infrared Sounder on NASA’s EOS-AQUA satellite, shows the plume of sulphur dioxide currently being carried over the Mediterranean Sea. The data have been processed by the Norwegian Institute for Air Research within the framework of ESA’s Data User Element and can be used to warn aviation companies on the hazardous plume.

Above: This image, which was acquired by the Atmospheric Infrared Sounder on NASA's EOS-AQUA satellite, shows the plume of sulphur dioxide currently being carried over the Mediterranean Sea. Credits: NASA, Norwegian Institute for Air Research

(Text from Wikipedia Mt Etna page)

Mount Etna (Αἴτνη (Aítnē) in Classical Greek, Aetna in Latin, also known as Muncibeddu (beautiful mountain) in Sicilian and Mongibello in Italian (from the Latin mons and the Arabic gibel, both meaning mountain) is an active stratovolcano on the east coast of Sicily, close to Messina and Catania. Its Arabic name was Jebel Utlamat (“the Mountain of Fire”). According to Adrian Room’s book Placenames of the World, the name Etna is said to have originated from a Phoenician word attuna meaning “furnace.” He dismisses the theory that Etna is from a Greek source meaning “I burn.” It is the largest active volcano in Europe, currently standing 3,329 metres (10,922 ft) high, though this varies with summit eruptions; the mountain is 21 m (69 ft) lower now than it was in 1981. It is the highest mountain in Italy south of the Alps. Etna covers an area of 1,190 km² (460 sq mi) with a basal circumference of 140 km. 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 in Tenerife surpasses it in the whole of the European region. In Greek Mythology, the deadly monster Typhon was trapped under this mountain by Zeus, the god of the sky.

Mount Etna is one of the most active volcanoes in the world and is in an almost constant state of activity. The fertile volcanic soils support extensive agriculture, with vineyards and orchards spread across the lower slopes of the mountain and the broad Plain of Catania to the south. Due to its history of recent activity and nearby population, Mount Etna has been designated a Decade Volcano by the United Nations.

About Josie Floyd

Read All Posts By Josie Floyd

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *