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Wolfgang Sartorius Von Waltershausen was a famous German geologist and astronomer who lived in 1800. His Der Aetna, recently translated from German, could be defined as the first truly scientific-volcanological treatise on Etna. Split into three volumes, it contained very accurate drawings of many...

From 1607 to 2000, Mount Etna emitted around 4.5 km3 of magma. However, 3 km3 was issued in 80 years between 1607 and 1689, and only 1.5 km3 in over 300 years. The duration of some eruptions lasting 10 years and the individual volumes of each eruption (up to 1 km3), are extraordinary parameters for ...

A paroxysm is an eruptive event of short duration but high intensity, especially in terms of explosiveness. It can create a fountain of lava reaching over 1 km in height, capable of fragmenting the magma very efficiently and forming large columns of ash that fall onto air traffic of the nearby airpo...

On 6 May 1787, the German writer climbed Mount Etna, or rather, the Monti Rossi (Red Mountains), which were formed following the lateral eruption of 1669. His tour of Sicily, the Grand Tour considered by many Central European intellectuals, especially French and German, as a compulsory stage of educ...

Mario Gemmellaro was born in Nicolosi in 1773 and was a scholar of natural history, physics and meteorology. He was also a famous volcanologist. His research on Etna began around 1800, probably following contact with great naturalist travellers such as Déodat de Dolomieu and Lazzaro Spallanzani. I...

Seismometers are instruments that record any vibrations in the Earth’s surface where they are installed, measuring the speed of oscillation and acceleration achieved by the ground. Old seismometers were very heavy, with a nib attached and, underneath, a paper roll firmly fixed to the ground. Mod...

Pit craters are circular depressions up to one hundred metres deep, which at first glance look like a classic volcanic crater. But, unlike the latter, there has never been any eruptive activity in the pit craters. In fact, they are formed by sinking due to a movement of magma in the area below. ...

In volcanology the caldera is a wide basin or depression, often occupied by a circular or elliptical lake formed by the accumulation of rainwater, created after the sinking of the magma chamber of a volcanic structure, caused by its partial emptying following a massive eruption. The formation of a ...

In 1800, some attempts were made to create a stable structure at a high altitude, from which Etna’s volcanological phenomena could be observed. It was inspired by the eruption of 1923, which convinced the authorities of the quality of the initiative proposed by Gaetano Ponte, Professor of Volcanol...