During 5 October fieldwork, Open Univ geologists noted that morphology of the active craters appeared similar to that of late 1988. Crater 1 (see figure 2) was the most active, with two open vents at about the same positions as [1-1] and [1-3], both containing magma at or near the surface. Vent [1-1], which had developed a deeper intracrater, erupted at a mean interval of ~8 minutes [see also 15:08], often ejecting incandescent tephra over the crater's NE rim, and occasionally over the SE rim. Bombs rose as much as 150 m above the rim. Explosions from vent [1-3] were less frequent and less powerful. Crater 3 was also active, with eruptions at an average of once every 45 minutes, ejecting glowing bombs obliquely to the W, into adjoining Crater 2.

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: C. Oppenheimer, Open Univ.