Figure 4-1: Map of Stromboli's craters showing "vent areas" referred to in the text below, and features visible during the 20 April 1995 visit by Giada Giuntoli and Boris Behncke. Individual vents are not labeled by themselves but rather related to vent areas. This map is a slightly modified version of the one published in the April 1995 issure of GVN Bulletin.
Map showing the lava flows of 1975 and 1985. From Bulletin of Volcanic Eruptions No. 27 (covering 1987)
Suggestive photograph of the December 1985 lava flow running down the Sciara del Fuoco. Precise date unknown. Photo scanned from a postcard, courtesy of Vincenzo Moreno (Edicola Cinefoto Sottile, Lipari).
Eruption from vent 1 in Crater 1 on the morning of 17 September 1989, during my first visit to Stromboli.
Vent 2 within Crater 3 is seen here in eruption. Lava fountains were obliquely projected onto the S rim of the crater. Photo taken on the morning of 17 September 1989 before sunrise.
Figure 5-2: Crater 1 seen from the northeast on the afternoon of 1 April 1990. A small conelet, about 20 m high, is visible at vent area 1/3. Compare this figure to figures 5-X, 5-X, and 5-X.
Spatter cone at vent area 1/2 (center of Crater 1) on the evening of 1 April 1990, viewed from the southeastern rim of the crater, about 30-50 m distant. The vent of this cone showed a suggestive glow but did not erupt.
Conelet at vent location 1/3, with eccentrically placed bocca at its southern base. No distinct summit bocca is recognizable.
Stromboli's craters seen from the "Fossetta" area, to the south. This compares to photos taken around the turn of the century (see the images of Stromboli before 1930), showing significant upward growth of the crater terrace during the past 100 years. This photo was taken during a small ash eruption from vent 2 of Crater 3 on the afternoon of 7 November 1990.
Simultaneous eruption from three vents shortly after midnight on 8 November 1990. The left fountain comes from vent 3-2 while the right ones rise above unidentified vents within Crater 1. Activity of this kind was going on uninterruptedly for tens of minutes but was less continuous and intense than that observed on 21-22 August 1994. View is from north, same point as the image of 22 August 1994.
Panoramic view of the crater terrace seen from Pizzo sopra la Fossa on 29 August 1991. Note filling of craters with pyroclastics and small cone at vent area 3/1 (in center of image).
Small explosion from vent 2 within Crater 3 on the morning of 29 August 1991, observed from SE rim of the same crater, during my visit together with Jon Dehn. The fountain is rising from several very small openings in the crater floor, or shoots out between scoria and bombs covering the genuine vent. Fragmentation and/or abrasion of the crater-filling pyroclastics forms a diffuse plume of brown ash around the lava fountain. The height of the fountain is 30-50 m. During our stay we observed about 10 eruptions of this kind that never exceeded the magnitude of the one shown here. Photo by Jon Dehn.
Vent 1 within Crater 3 had changed considerably from what it was like in 1990 during our August 1991 visit. The small cone was probably built during the intense October-November 1990 activity. Two open boccas lay eccentrically at the cone, illuminated by the glow of magma at shallow depth. No spattering took place during our visit. This photo is from Jon Dehn; my photos of that visit were ruined due to a malfunction of my camera.
I did not see the summit of Stromboli in 1992 and 1993. This photo of Jon Dehn shows the crater and the N slope of Sciara del Fuoco abount one month after the brief effusive episodes of mid-May 1993. The new flow lobes show clearly on the slope below Crater 1, reaching a length of max 150 m. Nine months later, during my first summit visit since August 1991, the flows were completely buried under material ejected by the violent October 1993 explosions. Note the filling of Crater 1 with small cones.
Early morning explosion from central vent in Crater 1, June 1993. The large version of this photo shows large glowing bombs within and beyond the ash column. Ash eruptions from Crater 1 are much less common than those from Crater 3. This notable photograph was taken by Jon Dehn.
Powerful bomb and ash explosion from the same vent, later that same morning. Numerous bombs are rising high above the ash column. Photo by Jon Dehn.
Figure 5-6: During the visit to the craters on 12 March 1994, the most intense activity took place deep within a pit at vent location 3/1. This pit is seen here during daylight from the southern rim of Crater 1. A few bombs can be distinguished in the lower central part of the pit.
Figure 5-7: The same bocca seen from the NE rim of Crater 3 on the evening of 10 March 1994. The lava fountain visible here was about 50 m high; others rose to about 120 m height. Acid vapors had destroyed my wide-angle zoom lens during the preceding hours so I had to use a 50 mm lens, failing to capture the full fountain.
Photomosaic of Crater 3, seen from S rim of Crater 1 on the morning of 12 March 1994. Locations of vents 3-1 and 3-2 are indicated. Note high SE rim of crater (at left) and large blocks of the October 1993 explosions lying around everywhere.
Figure 5-8: Several vents erupting simultaneously in Crater 1 during the first hours of 22 August 1994, seen from Pizzo sopra la Fossa. Eruptions occur from the summit of the large central cone (vent location 1/2) and from a broader bocca on a lower cone at 1/1. Several smaller incandescent vents can be seen around the two fountaining ones. Height of fountains is about 50 m in this image.
Activity of Crater 1 on 22 August 1994.
Left: Spectacular continuous lava fountaining occurred from the new central cone of Crater 1 shortly after midnight on 22 August 1994, often lasting up to 90 minutes. Similar activity occurred from the broad glowing vent visible at the front base of the cone which was acting in a completely independent manner (i.e. both vents had individual periods of intensified fountaining or erratic expolsive behavior).
Right: Explosion from the broad vent just below the central cone on the forenoon of 22 August 1994. No activity is occurring from the summit vent of the cone in that moment, but erratic bursts of spatter were occurring in the same period (i.e. after 1000 h).
Figure 5-9: Crater 1 seen from the northeast on the morning of 12 March 1994. The slope below the crater is covered with debris from the October 1993 explosions, and no traces of the May 1993 lava flows are visible. Note absence of cones within the crater.
Figure 5-10: Crater 1 seen from the northeast on the forenoon of 22 August 1994. A spectacular cluster of cones has grown since the last visit, and a small, very recent lava tongue (indicated by an arrow) extends down the N flank below the lowest point of the crater rim. New dark tephra covers the areas around the crater. Get comparison view of this and previous image (figs. 5-9 and 5-10) here . Still more detail of the lava flow is visible here .
Figure 5-11: View of Stromboli's craters from Pizzo sopra la Fossa on the forenoon of 20 April 1995. Half of the cone in center of Crater 1 has been blasted away by the strong 5 March 1995 explosion, exposing its conduit.
Figure 5-12: Detail of Crater 1 with the central August 1994 spatter cone (vent area 1/2) bisected by the 5 March 1995 explosion, the explosion pit before it and the "Gemelli" cones to the left. Photo taken 20 April 1995 from Pizzo sopra la Fossa.
Figure 5-13: Profile view of Crater 1 from northeast, afternoon of 20 April 1995. The 5 March 1995 explosion has blasted out a new pit to the left of what remains of the central August 1994 conelet. Half of the cone as well as some of the smaller features adjacent to it have been destroyed during that explosion. Compare to figures 4 and 5, and the April 1990 photo.
Figure 5-14: Crater 1 seen from the northeast on 30 April 1995. Strong steam emission hides features within the crater. Pizzo sopra la Fossa is to the left. The photo was supplied by Richard Pichl, University of Prague.
Small ash explosion from Crater 1 on the afternoon of 28 September 1995, seen from the NE. This is probably the most impressive photo that I took during the second 1995 visit to Stromboli (18-19 September 1995) since weather conditions were quite unfavorable, preventing good visibility. Additionally, the activity was extremely weak on that day, not representative of that period.
View from Monte S. Angelo (Lipari) towards Panarea and Stromboli on a very clear day, 15 September 1995. The blue color of the sea seemed artificial that day. Stromboli emitted large quantities of gas that formed a persistent stratum at about 800-900 m above sea-level. The calabrian coast can be seen behind Stromboli, a very rare phenomenon.
Latest changes made 16 December 1995
