|
The larger structures include "Trifoglietto II"
(from 70 to 50 thousand years ago) which must have
reached a height of circa 2,400 m. This structure is
currently completely dismantled. The beautiful side
of "Valle del Bove" hosts pyroclastic rock
that highlights its particularly explosive activity.
Explosiveness is probably linked to the large
quantities of water in the structure that on
vaporising caused the magma to fragment.
About 30 thousand years ago the eruptions moved
towards the eastern axis, unlike previous eruptions,
and the most important and impressive of the
alkaline, volcanic structures began to grow and
became known as the Ellittico. Its products, both
lava flow and pyroclastic rock, form a structure of
considerable size which, before the collapse of the
caldera 15 thousand years ago, must have reached
more than 4,000 m. Today, the Ellittico
structure forms the morphological frame of Etna,
even if it is seriously eroded. Among the products
at the centre of the Ellitico we encounter the most
differentiated terms of the entire volcanic alkaline
series which covers a compositional interval which
ranges from alkaline basalt (rare) to trachyte. The
most significant apparatus products are found in the
eastern walls of Valle del Bove, at " Punta Lucia"
and "Pizzi Deneri". The name Ellittico
derives from the elliptical shape (2 km major axis
and 1 km minor axis) of the caldera which marked the
end of its activity.
|