Mount Etna

Mount Etna (or Aetna, and known locally as Mongibello) is an active volcano on the east coast of Sicily (Italian Sicilia), close to Messina and Catania. It is the largest volcano in Europe, standingto stand: osiągać (wysokość) about 3,320 m (10,900 ft) high with a basal circumference obwód podstawyof 140 km, making it the highest mountain in Italy south of the Alps. Etna covers an area of 460 square miles (1190 km2). It is by faro wiele, o niebo the largest of the four active volcanos in Italy, being nearly three times the height of the next largest, Mount Vesuvius. It is one of the most active volcanoes in the world and is in an almost constantstały state of eruption. Although it can occasionally be very destructiveniszczycielski, zgubny, it is not generally regarded as being particularly dangerous.

Name and legends
Etna was known in Roman times as Aetna, a name thought to have derived either from the Greek word aitho ("to burn") or the earlier Phoenician word attano. The Arabs called the mountain Gibel Utlamat ("the mountain of fire"); this name was later corruptedto corrupt: zniekształcać, przekształcać into Mons Gibel and subsequentlypóźniej, dalej Etna's current local name, Mongibello.

The mountain's regular and often dramatic eruptions made it a major subject of interest for Classical mythologists and their later successorssuccessor: następca, who soughtto seek: chcieć, starać się to explain its behaviour in terms ofz punktu widzenia, w kategoriach the various gods and giants of Roman and Greek legend. Aeolus, the king of the winds, was said to have imprisoned the winds in caves below Etna. The giant Typhon was confinedograiczony, zawężonyto confine: uwięzić, zamykać under Etna, according to the poet Aeschylus, and was the cause of the mountain's eruptions. Another giant, Enceladus, rebelled against the gods, was killed and was buried under Etna. Hephaestus or Vulcan, the god of fire and the forgekuźnia, was said to have had his forgekuźnia under Etna and drove the fire-demon Adranus out from the mountain, while the Cyclopes maintained a smithykuźnia there where they fashioned lightningbłyskawica boltsbolt: piorun for Zeus to use as a weapon. The Greek underworldświat zmarłych, Tartarus, was supposed to be situated beneath Etna. Empedocles, a Greek statesmanpolityk, mąż stanu of the 5th century BC, was said to have met his death in the volcano's crater, although in reality he seems to have died in Greece. Etna supposedly erupted in sympathy withsolidarnie z, przez solidarność the martyrdommęczeństwo of Saint Agatha in 251 AD, promptingto prompt: zachęcać, podsuwać myśl Christians thereafterpóźniej, potem to invokeprzywoływać, wzywać her name against fire and lightningbłyskawica.

Physical aspects
Etna is an isolatedodzielny, pojedynczy peakszczyt which dominates the eastern side of Sicily, around 18 miles (29 km) from Catania. Its shape is that of a truncatedścięty conestożek with a ragged toppotargany, wystrzępiony szczyt, wierzchołek, which is actually a complex of large volcanic cones hosting four summitszczyt, wierzchołek craters. Around 260 smaller craters, formed by lateralboczny eruptions, occupy the slopesslope: zbocze, stok. On the southeastern side of Etna lies an immensebezgraniczny, niezmierny gullyogromny, niezmierny parów, the Valle del Bove, which is between 2000-4000 ft (600-1200 m) deep and over 3 miles (5 km) wide. Many of Etna's subsidiarydodatkowy craters reside within this cleftszczelina, rozpadlina, pęknięcie, which is thought to have been created around 3,500 years ago by the collapsezawalenie się, zapadnięcie of an ancient calderakocioł, ogromny krater. The height of the mountain varies with its eruptions; until 1911, there was only one large conestożek and crater at the summitszczyt, wierzchołek, but subsequent eruptions have created new craters and cones.

The slopesslope: zbocze, stok of Etna form three distinctodrębny, różny, wyróżniający się zones. The lower zone, extendingto extend: rozciągać sie, rozpościerać up to about 4000 ft (1200 m) are denselygęsto populated and planted with vineyardsvineyard: winnica, citrus fruits, and grovesgrove: zagajnik, lasek, gaj of olives, figs and almonds. The middle zone (up to about 6900 ft / 2100 m) is heavilyintensywnie wooded, mostly with pine and chestnut trees. At the top of the mountain is a volcanic wastelandnieużytki, ziemia leżąca odłogiem, dominated by old lava flowsflow: strumień, potok, screesscree: piarg and volcanic ashpopiół. Few plants grow there and it is covered by snow for much of the year.

Classification and morphology
Etna is an extremely complex volcano, presenting considerable difficulties in classifying it. It has features of both a shieldtarcza volcanowulkan tarczowy and a stratovolcanostratowulkan, and displays behaviour typical of both plinianwulkan którego erupcji towarzyszy słup dymu i popiołu and strombolianwulkan którego erupcji towrzyszą okresowe, sporadyczne fontanny lawy poprzedzone uwolnieniem gazów wulkanicznych volcanoes. It stands at the convergent boundarygranica stykania się, gdzie cos się zbiega where the African Plate is being subductedto subduct: wciągać beneath the Eurasian Plate, deforming the latterdrugi and forcingto force: zmuszać plumesplume: słup of magma upwardsdo góry into weak points in the crustskorupa, powłoka such as under Etna. It is perhaps most accuratecelny, dokładny to describe Etna as being a mixture of overlappingnachodzący na siebie shieldtarcza and strato volcanoes partiallyczęściowo destroyed by repeated collapses and partlyczęściowo, po części buried under subsequent volcanic edificesedifice: struktura.

Eruptions
Etna is highly active and erupts almost constantlyciągle, stale, although most of the time the eruptions are confinedograiczony, zawężonyto confine: uwięzić, zamykać to the summitszczyt, wierzchołek craters and nearby fissuresfissure: szczelina. Every few years, a major eruption or "outburst" takes place in which spectacular fire fountains appear, often accompanied by flowsflow: strumień, potok of lava. As this is extremely viscuous and flowsflow: strumień, potok at only a few meters or a few tensdziesiątki of meters per hour, the danger to human life is minimal, although the sheer quantityczysta zawartość of lava can sometimes lead to considerable destruction of property.

Ancient eruptions
Only vagueniejasny, niesprecyzowany records of Etna's ancient eruptions survive. The earliest recordedzarejestrowany, zanotowany eruption was that of about 475 BC, recordedzarejestrowany, zanotowany by the Greek poet Pindar in his First Pythian Ode of about 470 BC. The Roman poet Virgil gives a very vividżywy, bogaty, szczegółowy description of an eruption - probably first-handz pierwszej ręki - in his Aeneid:

"The port capaciouspojemny, and secure from wind,
Is to the foot of thund'ring Etna joined.
By turns a pitchyczarny jak smoła cloud she rolls on high:
By turns hot embersżar, iskry from her entrailsentrail: przeplatać fly,
And flakesflake: płatek, łuska of mountingwznoszący się flames, that licklizać the sky.
Oft from her bowelswnętrzności massymasywny rocks are thrown,
And shiveredto shiver: rozbijać by the force come piece-meal down.
Oft liquid lakes of burning sulphursiarka flow,
Fed from the fieryognisty springsspring: źródło that boil below."

Later eruptions
Etna is known to have erupted over sixty times in recordedzarejestrowany, zanotowany history. In 1169 and 1669, immensebezgraniczny, niezmierny lava flowsflow: strumień, potok descendedto descend: napływać, schodzić the flanksflank: bok of the mountain, reaching the sea and destroying Catania on both occasions. The 1669 eruption saw the creation of a huge riftszczelina, rysa 20 km long on the mountainside and the emergencepowstawanie, formowanie się, ukazanie się of two new volcanic cones, more than 100m high and measuring nearly 3 km in circumference at their base. These hills were named Monti Rossi. In 1928, the town of Mascali was destroyed by lava. Other major 20th century eruptions occurred in 1949, 1971, 1991, and 2000. In 2001-2002, the biggest series of eruptions for many years threw up a huge column of ashpopiół that could easily be seen from space and fell as far away as Libya, on the far side of the Mediterranean Sea.

Url źródłowy: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mount_Etna

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