Photos 15.-20.2.2000Once again STROMBOLI ON-LINE is proud to present a great collection of unique photos by SOL-correspondent Marco Fulle. Some taken under
considerable risk to his personal safety and must not be regarded as an invitation to approach Etna's summit craters, which, at the
present time, must be considered highly active and dangerous. All times are local. To give a sense of the perspective, camera lens
ocal lengths are given (i.e. f=28mm). The pictures on this page link to larger photos (20 to 100 KB).
In another page you find a very personal account of Marco's experiences on 15. February 2000.
It appears he was just about as close to the action as is possible for a very daring volcanologist... | |||
 15 Feb 2000, 15:00, fish-eye photo (diagonal = 180°) from the BN S rim. From left to right: 200 m wide Oct 1999 vent, NEC behind the Diaframma, and the new E vents below the 1964 pinnacle, above which the moon can be seen. |  15 Feb 2000, 16:00, fish-eye photo. Marco (shadow on the right) taking photos of bomb impact craters (left) of the 14. Feb. SEC paroxysm. They expose snow below the ash layer deposited by the same paroxysm. Background: BN (center) and SEC (right). |  15 Feb 2000, 16:30, fish-eye photo. Front of 14. Feb. SEC lava flow. In the background, from left to right: 1971 cone, Tom Pfeiffer, BN, and SEC with its South fissure. |  15 Feb 2000, 17:30, f=28mm from Torre del Filosofo hut. Etna's majestic shadow high above the Aspromonte is greeting us. |
 15 Feb 2000, 17:50, f=28mm from Torre del Filosofo hut. The summit vent of SEC is being filled by steam, the precursor of a SEC paroxysm. |  15 Feb 2000, 18:00, f=135mm from Torre del Filosofo hut. Red bombs start to bounce in the summit vent of SEC. This strombolian phase will last ten minutes only. |  15 Feb 2000, 18:10, f=135mm. Foto sequence one minute. A bright yellow gush of lava pours out of the SEC fissure on its S flank. The flow length increases from 20 to 50 m. Lava fountains on the SEC summit vent reach a height of 100 m. |  15 Feb 2000, 18:10, f=135mm from Torre del Filosofo hut. Great, continuous lava fountains rise 200 m high from the SEC summit vents. The lava flow decelerates from 5 m/s to no more than 1 m/s. |
 15 Feb 2000, 18:20, f=28 mm from Torre del Filosofo. The continuous lava fountain, partly masked by dense ash swirls rising vortically, is 500 m high above the SEC summit. The lava flow is 200 m long and its front is 200 m wide. |  15 Feb 2000, 18:20, f=135mm. Majestic lava fountains 200 m high rise from the summit SEC vents until at 18:30 all is over (right), leaving an incandescent SEC lightening the scene as in daylight. Lava continues to flow from the SEC S eroded fissure. |  16 Feb 2000, 12:00, f=28mm. Fresh snow over the ash layer deposited by SEC on 14.2. proves that this bomb landed during the paroxysm of 15.2. Our shelter (Torre del Filosofo, center background) is halfway between the meter-sized crater and SEC (left background) |  16 Feb 2000, 16:10, f=135mm from Torre del Filosofo hut. Another SEC paroxysm is starting. A 20 m high liquid gush of molten lava pours out from the fissure on the S SEC flank, while dense lava fountains begin to jet from its summit vent. |
 16 Feb 2000, 16:10, f=135mm (left), 28mm (right). The dense gush pouring out from the S fissure increases in height from 30 to 70 m, feeding a lava flow 50 to 200 m long. The lava fountains on the SEC summit vents increase in height from 100 to 300 m. |  16 Feb 2000, 16:10, f=28mm. The lava flow has reached the SEC basis and veils of dense white steam its right half. The liquid gush is 100 m high. The SEC paroxysm has reached its climax and the lava fountain is 500 m high. The yellow dust is caused by bomb impacts on the slopes of SEC. |  16 Feb 2000, 16:10, f=28mm. Suddenly, the gush drops, and dense ash clouds on the right of lava columns 200 m high follow its collapse. The whole SEC flanks are now masked by the yellow dust from the bomb impacts and the white steam released by the liquid lava flow. |  16 Feb 2000, 16:10, f=28mm. The lava fountains transform into dark jets of lava, bombs and black ash rising vertically at enormous speed into the sky. The increase of ash ejection marks the end of the paroxysm. Thousands of bombs continue to fall on SEC's slopes. |
 16 Feb 2000, 16:20, fish-eye image (diagonal=180°). Marco and Tom (right foreground) are close to the roof of the Torre del Filosofo shelter and suffer from heavy ash fall from the kilometers high eruptive column at the end of the SEC paroxysm. Ionian sea in the right background. |  16 Feb 2000, 16:40, f=28mm from the 1971 cone. The lava flow of the SEC paroxysm (about 2m thick) is still advancing at about 0.2 m/s. In the foreground impact craters of the 15.2 paroxysm. In the background SEC with the new double fissure on its S flank. |  18 Feb 2000, 16:50, f=28mm from Rifugio Sapienza. The 3km high ash column of another SEC paroxysm is driven southward by a storm masking Etna's South flank with flying snow. Montagnola on the right. |  19 Feb 2000, 9:30, f=28mm from Rifugio Sapienza. Another eruptive column of a SEC paroxysm stands high above the cinder cones of Monte Silvestri Superiore. Zeus, who had reached Etna in October as an eagle, is now flying away as a swan ... |
 19 Feb 2000, 19:00, f=28mm from Serra la Nave. Moon rising behind Monte Vetore, and thane ice cloud refracts the moonlight into rainbow colours. Constellations Leo and Ursa Major in the sky. |  21 Feb 2000, 13:00, f=28mm. The snowstorm of the previous weekend has filled the old cableway station with heaps of driftsnow. |  21 Feb 2000, 17:00, f=28mm. This is not Antarctica, but Etna in winter! Tom and Roby fight a cold north wind. Note the sun dogs (sunlight refracted by ice crystals of the flying snow). |  21 Feb 2000, 17:00, f=28mm from Montagnola. Snow rivolets cover the Etna S flank. Background: Monte Frumento Supino (left, and, below it, the old cableway station) and Etna summit craters veiled steam. |