On the morning of 7 September 2004, a small crack opened at the eastern base of the Southeast Crater cone and lava began to ooze out, forming a tiny flow just a few hundred meters long before the activity tapered out, a few hours later.
Three days later, on 10 September 2004, the new eruption started in earnest - a new vent opened at about 2600 m elevation, releasing a more substantial lava flow that cascaded down the steep western face of the Valle del Bove. This eruption was peculiar because there was almost no explosive activity, and the emitted lava seemed somewhat "old" - it was coolar and more crystalline than "normal" lava flows at Etna. To make things more serious, the start of this eruption was neither preceded nor accompanied by any noticeable seismic activity, so it came as a total surprise. Luckily it occurred far away from populated areas and cultivated land.
Still, it was a rather large eruption - it lasted six months, until 8 March 2005, and it emitted some 60 million cubic meters of lava, more than the previous eruptions of 2001 and 2002-2003. And it was beautiful, especially so during its first few weeks when weather conditions permitted easy access to the vent and we were frequently there.
This photo was taken during a visit to the active lava flow made with my friend Pippo Scarpinati sometime in late September 2004. At that time, my old Canon AE1 - with which I took this photograph - showed signs of aging, and the my lens had suffered from being too often in dense, acid volcanic gas plumes. Soon I would finally shift from slides and film to digital photography, a step many of my friends and colleagues had done much earlier.
:)
superrrrrrrrrrrrrr............
Dec 26, 2011
Blood of the Earth (Etna, 2004)
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