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Your first impression
when you see Etna by plane or looking at a
plastic scale model is that it is a perfect
volcanic cone with a huge piece the size of
an entire slope missing, as if a huge
dessert knife took away the entire eastern
side of this huge mountain. What remains is
a large depression, with an almost flat
base, paved with historic and prehistoric
lava eruptions. The valley is limited by a
steep escarpment with a slope between 30°
and 45°, with a height of more than one
kilometre, often divided into long series of
sharp crests and vast detritus channels. |
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Valle del Bove is widest in an East-West direction
at 7 km, with a length of 6 km in a North-South
direction. Its plant borders have a "horseshoe"
shape, with an open eastern side.
To the north, the valley is closed by a long wall
measuring 200 metres high, known as the “Serra
delle Concazze” due to the presence of numerous
craters and minor depressions (huge troughs) on its
side. The wall of Serra delle Concazze is uneven,
with some detached minor “peaks” which are
the top of some secondary crests and have an
octagonal shape similar to the wall itself. The most
significant are:
- Rocca della Valle 2700 m
- Monte Scorsone 1600 m
- Rocca Capra 1400 m
To the south the valley is limited by a wall that
reaches 400 metres high, the “Serra del Salifizio”
peaking at 2,640 m on the imposing pyroclastic cone
of “Montagnola”, produced during the eruption of
1763. Serra del Salifizio, with its more
easterly side known as the “Schiena dell’Asino”,
is rather uniform and the only “peak” of
importance is Monte Zoccolaro at 1,715 m.
Lastly to the east, or rather towards the summit
craters, Valle del Bove is separated from the edge
of “Piano del Lago” at circa 2,700 m high by
a wall with more than 1,000 metres in height
difference. The western wall is divided into
numerous octagonal crests:
- Serra Perciata
- Serra Vavalaci
- Serra Cuvigghiuni
- Serra Giannicola grande
- Serra Giannicola piccola
Along all the sierras in Valle del Bove there
are wonderful pyroclastic and lava rock formations
crossed by numerous dykes which are less susceptible
to erosion. They protect the crests from erosion and
give structure and support.
Valle del Bove has always been of great importance
in understanding Etna’s history. The rock formations
on the steep walls of the sierras allow us to study
this volcanic sequence. The orientation of the dykes
enable us to understand the tectonic links in the
area around Etna through which magma surfaces The
volcanic series found on the walls of Valle del Bove
can be traced to various eruption centres, almost
all of which are now eroded, with distinct eruptive
axes and differentiated petrochemical products.
Geological studies have exhausted the study
possibilities offered by the walls of Valle del Bove
and have still to understand the details of its
origin. It remains a mystery, as fascinating as a
September dawn among the needles of lava.
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TERRITORY
