Etna, again…Europe’s most active volcano is a seemingly endless fount of both l

Etna, again…Europe’s most active volcano is a seemingly endless fount of both lava and beautiful photos. After a paroxysm last November, it awoke again a couple of days ago with some stunning lava fountains and flows down the south western side of the mountain that overlooks the Sicilian city of Catania. What’s more it graced us with one of her famous smoke rings. The magma is rising from the margin separating Africa and Europe, as the last remnants of the Tethyan Oceanic plate are consumed in the mantle.The ever bubbling mountain has been going for half a million years, and been a source of legend since ancient times. The Greeks claimed the eruptions resulted from the struggles of the monster Typhon, who was sealed underneath by Zeus. It has also been claimed as the forge of Hephaestus (the Greek Vulcan), though the island of Vulcano disputes it this title. The name is thought to come from the ancient Phoenician word for furnace.LozImage credit: Marco Restivo/Barcroft Media Smoke ring Boris Behnckehttp://www.volcanodiscovery.com/etna/current-activity.htmlhttp://www.volcanodiscovery.com/etna/news.html -- source link

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