Stromboli

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Stromboli is a small island in the Tyrrhenian Sea, containing one of the active volcanos in Italy. It is one of the Aeolian Islands, a volcanic archipelago north of Sicily. This name is a corruption of the ancient Greek name Στρογγυλη (Strongulæ) which was given to it because of its round swelling form.

Related Topics:
Tyrrhenian Sea - Active volcanos in Italy - Aeolian Islands - Archipelago - Sicily

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Stromboli stands approximately 900m high above sea level, but in total rises over 2,000m from the ocean floor. There are three active craters at the peak. A significant geological feature of the volcano is the Sciara del Fuoco ("Stream of fire"), a broad channel on the north western side of the cone, generated by a giant flank collapse about 6000 years ago.

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Stromboli is remarkable because of the length of time for which it has been in almost continuous eruption. For at least the last 2,000 years, the same pattern of eruption has been maintained, in which explosions occur at the summit craters at intervals of minutes to hours. This type of very mild explosive eruption is known as Strombolian activity when observed at other volcanoes. Eruptions from the summit craters typically result in lava rolling down this channel. Stromboli's activity is almost exclusively explosive, but lava flows do occasionally occur - an effusive eruption in 2002 was its first in 17 years.

Related Topics:
Eruption - Crater - Strombolian activity - Volcano - Lava flow - 2002

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The continuous mild explosive eruptions are also occasionally punctuated by much larger eruptions.

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The largest eruption of the last hundred years occurred in 1930, and resulted in the deaths of several people and the destruction of a number of houses by flying volcanic bombs. Large eruptions occur at intervals of years to decades, and the most recent large eruption began in 2002, causing the closure of the island to non-residents for several months. The eruption started with a lava flow (29 Dec 2002) along the "Sciara del Fuoco" flank that rapidly reached the sea. On 30 Dec 2002 a huge volume of rocks collapsed from the "Sciara del Fuoco" generating at least two landslides and many tsunami waves. The highest wave was 10 m high and caused serious damages at the Stromboli village. On April 5, 2003 a strong explosion from the summit crater ejected rocks that reached the Ginostra village, damaging some houses. The eruption terminated on July 2003.

Related Topics:
1930 - Volcanic bomb

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