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.

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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.

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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.

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Tyrrhenian Sea: The Tyrrhenian Sea is part of the Mediterranean Sea off of the western coast of Italy....

Aeolian Islands: The Aeolian Islands (Italian Isole Eolie) are a volcanic archipelago in the Tyrrhenian Sea north of Sicily. They are a popular tourist destination in the summer, and attract up to 200,000 visitors annually....

Archipelago: An archipelago is a landform which consists of a chain or cluster of islands. Archipelagoes usually occur in the open sea; less commonly a large land mass may neighbour them. Archipelagos are often volcanic, forming along ocean ridges or hotspots, but there are many other processes involved in thei...

Stromboli related Images and Photos (experimental)

Landscape with Mount Stromboli