Etna Ice- and Ringworld: More Video Clips (21.-25.2.2000)From 23.-25.2.2000 three SOL-team members were waiting in the bitter cold for another SEC paroxysm. Unfortunately they did not witness
one from close but, instead, were rewarded by other spectacular sights, and some incredible «steam rings» from Bocca Nuova. Normally,
this phenomen is referred to as «smoke ring». However, as there was hardly any ash, but a high steam content, we call it «steam ring».
Some lasted for up to 10mins (times documented by video recordings). But these were not the only attractions. As you will see,
pseudo-russians had invaded Etna summit! At the beginning, you can also see some highlights from the previous days, when Tom was still
with Marco and Roby. All pictures link to videos in MPEG format and Widescreen 16:9 aspect ratio, which are copyrighted by the author,
Roberto Carniel. | ||||
 21.2.2000, Sunset, descending towards La Montagnola. It really looks like Antarctica. The wind is blowing strong, and the sunset adds that bit of colour to the snow running along he ground that makes the scene really unforgettable. (800 KB) |  21.2.2000, Sunset, descending towards La Montagnola. The sun is still going down, and so are we. Descending towards the cablecar station, we meet a cross that further enhance the feeling of loneliness given by the wind swept snow running along the ground. (450 KB) |  23.2.2000, 4:00, from Serra La Nave. We waited for this paroxysm for most of the day at TDF. At the sunset, we decided to go down to Rifugio Sapienza. This video proves we were wrong, but one must realize it is not so easy to wait all the night at TDF ;-). Visibility is often limited by the ash, but sometimes one can see the lava erupted by SEC, as in this short video. (900 KB) |  24.2.2000. As we have already seen in previous page, the surroundings of the TDF are constellated by a number of pits and cavities melted into winter snow by bombs and fumaroles. Another interesting phenomenon that we observe is the presence of noteworthy cracks in the ice, which we observe propagating from day to day. (800 KB) |  23.2.2000, near the base of SEC cone. As Tom and Roby go around the lava field below the base of SEC, they discover that a small lava flow is still active. Not that spectacular ;-) but this means that at least one vent on the SE flank of the SEC is still issuing a lava flow. (900 KB) |
 23.2.2000, near the base of SEC cone. But the most interesting thing we find within the lava field is a number of fumaroles, some of which have formed extremely fascinating leaves formations that look like very fragile lichens. (600 KB) |  25.2.2000, a ring, from TDF. Here we go again! Steam rings seem to be the most successful phenomenon depicted on SOL ... (800 KB) |  25.2.2000, a ring, from TDF. Note the progressive thinning of the part of ring opposite to the viewer. (800 KB) |  25.2.2000, a ring, from TDF. Here the ring structure is really thinning... (800 KB) |  24.2.2000. This is not A ring. It is THE ring! Do you recognize it? Now you can see it alive... well, you can see it die out :-). 3.7 MB, but we can offer a full refund guarantee on this! ;-) |
 24.2.2000. And here is another top-downloaded one! Have you ever seen a VIDEO of a volcanic vapour ring together with its shade moving on the SEC cone?. Now you can ... (900 KB) |  24.2.2000. And we conclude our second vapour ring collection with one really nice ascension. The camera is slightly moving in order to follow it, but you can get the movement from the neighbouring vapour clouds. (2.9 MB) |  24.2.2000, at Torre del Filosofo you can make very strange encounters. Or maybe people just have side effects when the wait for the next paroxysm gets too long... Anyway, here you can see the Russian invasion (ehm, maybe Pseudo-Russian :-)) of the Etna summital area. (330 KB with sound: cheap, uh?) |  24.2.2000, the russian helmet is of course for personal defense... against volcanic bombs. But you do need some training. You should start with small bombs ... I don't know why Marco is laughing. It's a serious training, isn't it? (700 KB with sound). |  24.2.2000, after you have tested the behaviour of the helmet with the small bombs, you can go further to be sure that you would survive even a real paroxysmal phase. But someone is not convinced of the helmet resistance, and tries to boycott the experiment! Bigger bomb, bigger image, bigger filesize (1.2 MB). |
| Personal message: ROGER, if you see this page from somewhere around the world, please contact us. We miss you! :-)! Video R. Carniel | ||||