Stromboli: il faro del mediterraneo/the lighthouse of the Mediterranean
The real danger is the "sphere of fire" enclosed in the crust of the volcano.
Article by MARIO TOZZI, 03 July 2019 “La Stampa"
Translated by Mirella Colalillo
Original article in Italian: https://www.lastampa.it/2019/07/03/news/stromboli-quella-finestra-aperta-nbsp-sulle-viscere-della-terra-1.36637890
Of the five hundred andmore active volcanoes in the world, there is only one that can betrusted, because it has been erupting since the Sapiens crossed inthe Tyrrhenian Sea and because it rarely caused pain. Even when theisland became depopulated due to a stronger eruption than the othersin 1930, going from 3mil inhabitants to the current 400. That volcanois Stromboli, the lighthouse of the Mediterranean. This time, though,it's one of those. And it is also why Stromboli can be very loved orvery hated, hardly its fault. It is enough to know its history, evenwhen, as in this case, the meticulous surveillance to which thevolcano is subjected has not given way to foresee a paroxysm which,it's believed, should remain isolated.
In Stromboli, onaverage every 5-15 years, the paroxysmal explosive phenomena and thelandslides that trigger tsunamis cause damage to people and things.Normally the Strombolian activity proceeds by modest jets of watervapor (the gas columns are white, a sign that ash is not erupted)that hurl into the air small incandescent fragments originated by thegas bubbles that arrive at the top of the magmatic column every 20minutes or so . Sometimes the lava fountains reach a thousand metersin height and can be seen from far away, especially at night whenother landmarks are missing. For this reason Stromboli is thelighthouse of the Mediterranean, known by Greeks and Phoenicians, byRomans and Punic people, as a friend.
The volcano has beenmore or less the same for at least ten thousand years, but itshistory begins with the activity of Strombolicchio (the rock in frontof Stromboli, remnant of a volcanic chimney) about 200,000 years agoand continues with four eruptive periods. One hundred thousand yearsago there was a Paleostromboli that erupted lavas, but above allashes, both fallen and from dangerous pyroclastic flows (burning andfast aerosols), and mudslides: no man has observed their birth upclose. Subsequently the volcano produced more lavas than ashes, lavasthat continued in the period immediately preceding the so-calledrecent Stromboli, namely that of the Sciara del Fuoco, the greatlandslide escarpment on the side of the volcano, and of an activityso typical that it gave its name to all similar eruptions in everypart of the world (precisely "Strombolian"). Also the lavashave changed: initially they were much richer in silica, today theyare more similar to basalts with high potassium contents.
As in 1879, 1916 and1919, and also as in 1944, in 1954 and 2002, Stromboli's paroxysmscaused limited tsunamis. They are quite frequent phenomena also forthe history of men: nothing to do with the gigantic tsunamis thatcould be caused by the collapse of the huge sub-Tyrrhenian submarinevolcanoes such as Marsili, linked however to completely differentdynamics and, at the moment, not dangerous. The history of Stromboliis made up of huge landslides, some explosion and collapsing waves,as well as lava fountains and gas clouds.
Stromboli concels its possible danger in its depths. If we lifted the thin superficial crust film, Stromboli would show us its heart of darkness: a superficial magma chamber brought to light by a tomography performed by the Ingv: a kind of fiery sphere of 150 meters of radius placed at about 700 m of altitude and fed by ducts that fish much deeper. What would happen if a large landslide took away an important slice of mountain and plunged it into the sea? The denudation of the hot heart of the volcano would have catastrophic consequences.
Video of the explosion a few meters away:
The volcanism ofStromboli depends on a single cause, the clash that takes place inthe lower Tyrrhenian between Africa and Europe, two of the largestgeological plates on planet Earth. In reality the collision haslasted for millions of years, but the collision processes between thecontinents are discontinuous, and the crises are linked to the slow"digestion", on the part of the Earth's mantle, of theAfrican plate that knee bends just below the Aeolian islands to bereabsorbed under the European one. Efforts generated by frictiontrigger earthquakes ranging from twenty to over four hundredkilometers in depth. Not only: the plaque that bends finds deeper andhigher temperatures and therefore melts, generating the magmas thatfeed the Aeolian volcanoes.
But anyone who knows Stromboli, knows that the top of the island (ie the volcano) is constantly affected by small explosions that make a lava pour out not too viscous nor too fluid along with a characteristic cloud of whitish vapor. When I climb Stromboli I trust it and we should continue to do so. Provided you do not forget that it is a volcano, a window open on the inside of the Earth. Never be afraid of a volcano, just have respect and love for Mother Earth. Despite the pain of today. -
Vocabolario - Vocabulary:
il vulcano: the volcano
l'eruzione: the eruption
i fenomeni esplosivi: the explosive phenomena
la scarpata di frana: the landslide slope
i maremoti: the tsunamis / agitated waters
l'attività stromboliana: Strombolian activity
i frammenti incandescenti: the glowing fragments
le fontane di lava: the lava fountains
le colate di fango: the mudslides
le ceneri: the ashes
le nubi di gas: the gas clouds
la nube di vapore: the steam cloud
il vapore acqueo: the water vapor
le placche geologiche: the geological plates
il mantello terrestre: the Earth mantle
il terremoto: the earthquake
fuoriuscire: to pour out
la Madre Terra: the Mother Earth
Preparati per le vacanze in Italia con il mio libro!
Prepare for your trip to Italy with my book!