Sicily
Why Does a Mature Volcano Need New Vents? The Case of the New Southeast Crater at Etna
Valerio Acocella, Marco Neri, Boris Behncke2, Alessandro Bonforte2, Ciro Del Negro2 and Gaetana Ganci 2
problematic: Why Does a Mature Volcano Need New Vents? The Case of the New Southeast Crater at Etna
description: Mature stratovolcanoes or composite volcanoes usually erupt from a persistent summit crater. Indeed, most volcanic edifices do not show variations in the location of summit volcanism, constantly erupting from the same vent, and especially on the short-term (100 of years or less). This persistency may be found also after major eruptions, and even when these are associated with important structural variations, as the development of sector collapses, as for example at Bezymianny in 1956 and at Mount St. Helens in 1980 (e.g., Belousov et al., 2007, and references therein). Of course, monogenic dike-fed eruptive fissures on the volcano flanks may develop at any time (Acocella and Neri, 2009, and references therein); however, these eruptions are usually not accompanied by permanent variations in the location of summit activity, so future eruptions may be expected to occur again from the same summit vent.