Etna Volcano Landscape

Etna Volcano is Europe’s largest, tallest and most active volcano. It is also one of the world’s most famous volcanoes. It is located in the northeastern corner of Sicily near the southern tip of Italy. It is cone-shaped, has an elevation of 3,520 m above sea level, is 500 m in diameter and is visible from 250 km away. There are also more than 200 small volcanic cones around it. Based on historic records, this volcano first erupted in 475 A.D., and it has erupted more than 500 times since the eighteenth century. Large eruptions occurred from August 1852 to May 1853, from 1950 to 1951, from 1977 to 1981, and also in 1987, 1989, 1990, 1992, 1998, and October 2002. The cumulative death toll is 1 million. The erupted volcanic ash has turned into fertile soil, and so the land below an elevation of 900 m has been cultivated as orchards. This area is well known for wine making. The forest belt is mainly at elevations of 1,000–1,980 m. The volcanic deposits above 1,980 m above sea level are...