Etna volcano on the island of Sicily by Silva Wischeropp

About "Etna volcano on the island of Sicily"

by Silva Wischeropp

About the artwork

This charming spring landscape on the Etna volcano was taken on 19 April 2013 in the early afternoon hours with the Nikon D90.

Mount Etna (Etna or Mongibello in Italian) is the highest active volcano in Europe at around 3357 metres (2021) above sea level. It is located on the Italian island of Sicily in the administrative unit of the metropolitan city of Catania. In June 2013, UNESCO added Mount Etna to the World Heritage List.
Mount Etna has four summit craters: the main crater, the adjacent crater "Bocca Nuova" (New Mouth) from 1968, the north-east crater from 1911 and the south-east crater from 1979, which are located slightly away from the main crater. However, lava is not usually ejected from the summit craters during an eruption, but from the flanks of the mountain cone.
Over the millennia, around 400 secondary craters have formed as a result, such as the Silvestri Mountains in 1892.
The height of Mount Etna fluctuates around 3350 metres and changes frequently due to cinder cones and destructive eruptions. The Etna massif covers an area of around 1250 square kilometres and has a circumference of around 250 kilometres.

The area around Mount Etna, which is characterised by lava rock and is therefore extremely fertile, has always had a flora and fauna that is almost unparalleled and unique in Europe. However, the rapid development of the area with paved roads and forest clearance, as well as unrestricted hunting in the area, raised major concerns about the continued existence of this habitat, which is why the Etna Regional Park was established in 1987, covering an area of over 580 square kilometres around Mount Etna.