(Correct the typographical error ‘do’ after ‘in’ in the heading)
PATERNO, Sicily, April 9 (Reuters) – Mount Lava springs from Mount Etna have regularly illuminated the Sicilian night sky since December, and scientists believe mud puddles a few kilometers from Europe’s highest active volcano are key to predicting what it next do.
The current eruption cycle – just like the other 200 or so produced by Mount Sicilian since 1998 – poses no danger to the human settlements that surround it, but volcanologists leave as little as possible to chance should conditions change.
“When the Etna is ready to produce new cycles with strong eruptions, the very first signs of excessive pressure are observed in the deep magma reservoirs here,” Salvatore Giammanco said as he walked along the Salinelle mud pools in the city of Paterno. .
Giammanco, a senior researcher at the National Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology – Etna Observatory, says the magmatic gas, mostly carbon dioxide, mixes with methane from underground hydrocarbon reservoirs, which bring water and mud to the surface.
“We can predict what Mount Etna wants to do by looking at the amount of gas released and the ratios of magmatic gas and hydrocarbons.”
Giammanco expects the Etna to rumble for a few more months before returning to a calmer state. Meanwhile, he will keep a close eye on the mud. (Reported by Antonio Parrinello; written by Angelo Amante; edited by John Stonestreet)
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