Mount Etna - 2002 Lava flow above Piano Provenzana

Etna Regional Park (59 000 ha) is the protected area that surrounds the highest active volcano in Europe. It was the first Sicilian protected area, established in 1987. The park is divided into four zones: zone A has maximum protection and allows nature to play its course with minimal human intervention; zone B is a general reserve and is made up of small agricultural plots and wonderful examples of rural architecture; zone C and D cover 14000 hectares and here some tourist facilities are allowed but the preservation of the landscape and nature should always be respected.Etna Regional Park is located in eastern Sicily. At the heart of the ecosystem of the park is Mount Etna, with its lithological boundary of 250 km, height of approximately 3350 m and an area of about 1260 km². The beauty of the park is not only the grandeur of eruptions and lava flows. Around the great volcano, lies a unique landscape, rich in sounds, scents and colors. The territory of the Etna Park stretches from the summit of the volcano until the upper belt of Etna villages. 20 municipalities and a population of over 250 000 inhabitants are found within the park territory.With its forests, trails, unique landscapes, typical products and its historic municipalities Etna Regional Park is an attractive place to visit all year round.
The vegetation of the park is extremely rich and varied. In the lowest regions there are vineyards, orchards, nut trees and woods of oak and chestnut trees. Gathering height you can find woods of oak, turkey oak and larch pines and higher still (above 2000 m) there are beech and birch trees.Characteristic plant species of the Etna landscape are: the symbolic Etna broom, one of the main plants that colonizes the lava; pulviniformi Holy Thorn (Astragalus), which offer shelter to other plants of the Etna mountain, such as groundsel, chickweed, and the Sicilian soap. The porcupine, fox, wild cat, marten, rabbit and hare live on the mountain along with smaller mammels. There are also many birds including the hawk, buzzards, kestrels, peregrine falcon and golden eagle and various types of owl.

La bellezza del Parco dell'Etna non sta soltanto nella grandiosità delle eruzioni e nelle colate di lava incandescente. Attorno al grande vulcano si estende un ambiente unico e impareggiabile, ricco di suoni, profumi e colori. Un comprensorio dal paesaggio incantevole, protetto da un parco naturale che chiunque si trovi in Sicilia non può mancare di visitare. Il territorio del Parco dell'Etna, che si estende dalla vetta del vulcano sino alla cintura superiore dei paesi etnei, è stato diviso in quattro zone a diverso grado di protezione: zone A, B, C e D.

Mount Etna (Aetna in Latin, also known as Muncibeddu in Sicilian and Mongibello in Italian, a combination of Latin mons and Arabic gibel, both meaning mountain) is an active stratovolcano on the east coast of Sicily, close to Messina and Catania. Its Arabic name was Jebel Utlamat (the Mountain of Fire).Volcanic activity at Etna began about half a million years ago, with eruptions occurring beneath the sea off the coastline of Sicily. 300,000 years ago, volcanism began occurring to the southwest of the present-day summit, before activity moved towards the present centre 170,000 years ago. Eruptions at this time built up the first major volcanic edifice, forming a strato-volcano in alternating explosive and effusive eruptions. The growth of the mountain was occasionally interrupted by major eruptions leading to the collapse of the summit to form calderas.From about 35,000 to 15,000 years ago, Etna experienced some highly explosive eruptions, generating large pyroclastic flows which left extensive ignimbrite deposits. Ash from these eruptions has been found as far away as Rome, 800 km to the north.Sicily's greatest natural attraction is also its highest mountain: Mount Etna, at 10,924 feet, is the most active volcano in Europe and the oldest recorded active volcano in the world.Mount Etna is an active volcano on the east coast of Sicily, close to Messina and Catania. It is the largest active volcano in Europe, currently standing about 3329.6 m (10,924 feet)high, though it should be noted that this varies with summit eruptions; the mountain is 21.6 m (71 ft) lower now than it was in 1865. It is the highest mountain in Italy south of the Alps. Etna covers an area of 1,190 km² (460 square miles) with a basal circumference of 140 km.The fertile volcanic soils support extensive agriculture, with vineyards and orchards spread across the lower slopes of the mountain and the broad Plain of Catania to the south. Due to its history of recent activity and nearby population, Mount Etna has been designated a Decade Volcano by the United Nations.Etna lava stone is a material with unique characteristics: durable, indestructible, resistant to changes in the temperature (it’s a heat conductor), it offers infinite possibilities of uses: flooring, urban furniture, interior design.After the glazing process the product doesn’t get stained, resists to acids and doesn’t require particular maintenance: that’s why lava stone is the ideal material even to make kitchens and bathrooms countertops. The natural stone tends to grey, with the glazing process we can obtain any desired colour. Shapes, sizes and decorations can be customized . The lava stone it is formed by the solidification of cooled magma on the surface of the Etna volcano, in Sicily

L'Etna è un vulcano attivo che si trova sulla costa orientale della Sicilia (Italia), tra Catania e Messina. È il vulcano attivo più alto del continente europeo e uno dei maggiori al mondo. La sua altezza varia nel tempo a causa delle sue eruzioni, ma si aggira attualmente sui 3329.6 m (10,924 feet) s.l.m. Il suo diametro è di circa 45 chilometri.Un tempo era noto anche come Mongibello.In genere le eruzioni dell'Etna pur fortemente distruttive delle cose, non lo sono per le persone se si eccettuano i casi fortuiti o di palese imprudenza come quello dell'improvvisa esplosione di massi del 1979 che uccise nove turisti e ne ferì una decina di altri avventuratisi fino al cratere appena spento. L'Etna è un tipico strato-vulcano che iniziò la sua attività, tra 500 e 700 mila anni fa. La sua lava di tipo basaltico è povera in silice, è molto calda, densa e fluida. Per queste ragioni le eruzioni sono tranquille ed il percorso delle lave prevedibile. La velocità di scorrimento è superiore a quella delle lave acide, più ricche in silice e più viscose e leggere.La lavorazione della pietra lavica, derivante dall’industria estrattiva delle vicine cave dell'Etna, per scopi ornamentali o per materiali da costruzione, diede da vivere a molte famiglie siciliane.I "pirriaturi", anticamente, estraevano lungo i costoni dell'Etna solo strati superficiali di lava perché più porosi e più facilmente lavorabili con arnesi quali la subbia, lo scalpello, la mazzola e il martello. Sul materiale estratto interveniva lo spaccapietre che ricavava lastre di pietra, infine lo scalpellino rifiniva il materiale. Uno degli usi prevalenti cui era destinata la pietra lavica era la pavimentazione delle strade urbane

www.youtube.com/watch?v=cAT2XppUwxg

Taken in: Italia / Sicilia (show map)

Taken on: August 27, 2011

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Camera: Panasonic DMC-FZ38, f/5.0, 1/250 sec, 34.2mm, ISO 80 (more info) (hide info)

Camera:	Panasonic DMC-FZ38
Aperture:	f/5.0
Exposure Time:	0.004 sec (1/250)
Focal Length:	34.2mm
ISO:	80
Exposure Bias:	0 EV
Flash:	Off, Did not fire
Exposure Program:	Landscape
Exposure Mode:	Auto
Metering Mode:	Multi-segment
White Balance:	Auto
Color Space:	sRGB
Software:	picnik.com
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