Mount Etna: Europe’s most powerful volcano puffs rare smoke rings
The most powerful volcanic Lady, Etna, creates smoke rings in the sky over Sicily, breaking its own records.
The activity of Etna, the largest active volcano in Europe, continues with the ring shown in the sky. The rings that this powerful “Lady of the Rings” created in the sky got the attention. White smoke rings are mostly made of water vapor. Now it is breaking its records.
They are the reason why Etna got the nickname “Lady of the Ring.” Those spectacular volcanic rings are made of steam and generated by bursts of gas bubbles inside a narrow duct over a magma chamber. But no worries, according to the expert that doesn’t mean a big explosion is on the way.
What is different this time?
The answer is in the frequency of the rings. As Boris Behncke, a volcanologist noted in the year 2000 it made about 5000 of them. But now experts there say this month Etna “has broken all previous records” with the frequency of the rings. “No volcano on earth produces as many volcanic vortex rings as Etna, we knew this for some time,” said Behncke.
“Southeast Crater continues emitting countless graceful vapor rings (“volcanic vortex rings”), a phenomenon never seen like this before,” he wrote.
This phenomenon has been studied since the late nineteenth century. According to the data the physicist Sir William Thomson who gave the rings the name of “volcanic vortex rings”. The first sightings date back to 1724.
Dolphins bubble rings on the sky
As Simona Scollo volcanologist at the INGV Etna Observatory explained they are similar to how dolphins blow bubble rings. “They compress the water in their mouths. Use their tongue they push it out of their mouths and create a pressure that forms a ring,” she added. She also noted that all this does not mean that there will be some spectacular eruption. Now, in this case, the vent is perfectly circular, “making for particularly perfect rings.”
How long do these smoke rings last?
As she explained that depends on the weather. According to her study, they can be on the sky for up to 10 minutes. “If there is turbulence they fall apart more quickly,” she explained.
At Etna, a spectacular period that lasted several months was observed in 2000. One of his vents created hundreds of rings of smoke every day. Volcanic vortex rings are not unique for Etna. Volcanic rings can be seen over the many skies worldwide, from Nicaragua, Iceland, and Alaska to another active Italian volcano, Stromboli.
The Tallest European Lady
With nearly 11, 000 feet Etna is the tallest active volcano in Europe. Last year it released a huge amount of volcanic ash and smoke in the air.
According to a study, 10.7 million cubic meters of magma enter Mount Etna’s feeding system annually over the past 21 years. 28.5% of this magma has contributed to eruptive activity, the remaining 71.5% has accumulated within the volcano. The results of this study are of particular interest. For example, rapid and accurate estimates of the quantity of magma accumulated can contribute to the correct assessment of volcanic risk. This lady is going to lead many shows in the future.
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