Steady-state magma discharge at Etna 1971-81

Throughout the past decade Mount Etna has been in almost continuous activity and even during periods of repose incandescent lava has often been visible in at least one of the summit vents. Using observations by Italian, British and French volcanological teams we have estimated the volumes of lava pr...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Nature (London) 1981-12, Vol.294 (5841), p.548-550
Main Authors: Wadge, G, Guest, J. E
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Humanities and Social Sciences
letter
multidisciplinary
Science
Science (multidisciplinary)
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Summary:Throughout the past decade Mount Etna has been in almost continuous activity and even during periods of repose incandescent lava has often been visible in at least one of the summit vents. Using observations by Italian, British and French volcanological teams we have estimated the volumes of lava produced by each eruption from 1971 to July 1981. The computed output of magma for this period approximates to a rate of 0.7 m 3 s −1 . We now compare this with our output rate estimates for Etna's historic past. The steady-state nature of the output during the past decade has implications for the interpretation of the volcano's internal plumbing and the petrology of its lavas, and the assumption that this state will be maintained allows us to discuss the timing and magnitude of future eruptions.
ISSN:0028-0836
1476-4687
DOI:10.1038/294548a0