For the first time since the spring of 1971, a new effusive phase began at 2030 on 5 November. Three summit craters were active, and lava flowing down the Sciara del Fuoco reached the N coast. By mid November effusive activity was decreasing below the 700 m level on the Sciara. The eruption had no adverse effects on the island's population or agriculture.

Further References. Villari, L., ed., 1980, The Aeolian Islands, an active volcanic arc in the Mediterranean Sea: Rendiconti Soc. Ital. Mineral. Petrol., v. 36, 185 p. + refs.

Capaldi, G., and others, 1978, Stromboli and its 1975 eruption: BV, v. 41, p. 259-285.

Geological Summary. Spectacular incandescent nighttime explosions at Stromboli have long attracted visitors to the "Lighthouse of the Mediterranean" in the NE Aeolian Islands. This volcano has lent its name to the frequent mild explosive activity that has characterized its eruptions throughout much of historical time. The small island is the emergent summit of a volcano that grew in two main eruptive cycles, the last of which formed the western portion of the island. The Neostromboli eruptive period took place between about 13,000 and 5,000 years ago. The active summit vents are located at the head of the Sciara del Fuoco, a prominent scarp that formed about 5,000 years ago due to a series of slope failures which extends to below sea level. The modern volcano has been constructed within this scarp, which funnels pyroclastic ejecta and lava flows to the NW. Essentially continuous mild Strombolian explosions, sometimes accompanied by lava flows, have been recorded for more than a millennium.

Information Contacts: G. Nappi, IIV, Catania.