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Report on Stromboli (Italy) — 10 July-16 July 2019


Stromboli

Smithsonian Institution / US Geological Survey
Weekly Volcanic Activity Report, 10 July-16 July 2019
Managing Editor: Sally Sennert.

Please cite this report as:

Global Volcanism Program, 2019. Report on Stromboli (Italy) (Sennert, S, ed.). Weekly Volcanic Activity Report, 10 July-16 July 2019. Smithsonian Institution and US Geological Survey.

Weekly Report (10 July-16 July 2019)

Stromboli

Italy

38.789°N, 15.213°E; summit elev. 924 m

All times are local (unless otherwise noted)


INGV reported that the paroxysmal explosive sequence at Stromboli on 3 July changed the morphology of the crater terrace. The rim of the terrace facing the Sciara del Fuoco was removed, and the N1 and N2 vents in Area N (north crater area, NCA) had enlarged and merged into one. After the paroxysmal event explosive activity rapidly decreased, though it remained more intense than normal. The vents of Area C-S (South Central crater area) produced explosions regularly during 8-14 July, and fed lava flows that traveled about halfway down the Sciara del Fuoco. Material from the lava-flow fronts rolled all the way to the coastline. A new lava flow from Area N (north crater area, NCA) began at 1900 on 14 July.

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.

Source: Sezione di Catania - Osservatorio Etneo (INGV)