Research Presentation: Mount Etna By: Abby Lambert By:

About Mount Etna Mount Etna is an active stratovolcano on the east coast of Sicily, Italy, in the Province of Catania, between Messina and Catania. It lies above the convergent plate margin between the African Plate and the Eurasian Plate. Stratovolcano: A volcano built up of alternate layers of lava and ash.

How mount etna was formed The European and the African plates, which are pushing towards each other due to convection currents in the mantle beneath, made Mount Etna. Mount Etna was formed about 2.6 million years ago.

History of Mount Etna Sicily is dominated by Mount Etna The name of this nearly 11,000-foot high mountain derives from "aitho," the Greek term for "to burn." Etna is active and erupts regularly. About 25 percent of the island's population lives on the slopes of Mount Etna because the ash has rendered the land there fertile.

First Eruption The first recorded eruption of Mount Etna was in 475 BCE. It is the most active volcano in Europe. In 1169 an eruption killed 15,000 people in Sicily.

Characteristics Mount Etna is part of the Calabrian arc, or range, of volcanoes and has grown up on the rift where the African tectonic plate meets the Eurasian tectonic plate. It has been growing for the past half-million years. The volcano erupts periodically in a variety of styles, ranging from the kind of explosions that buried Pompeii to lava flows. The current, classic cone or stratovolcano is called Mongibello; it formed in the late Pleistocene and Holocene eras, about 35,000 years ago. Mongibello sits atop a much older shield volcano, one built of layer upon layer of lava flow.

Major Historic eruptions Near continuously active; some major historic eruptions include 122 BC (large Plinian outbursts that created the small caldera of the "Cratere del Piano"), 1669 AD (devastating flank eruption that destroyed 15 villages and part of Catania), 1787 (Subplinian eruption and one of the most spectacular summit eruptions on record - lava fountains reportedly up to 3000 m high).

Annotated Bibliography 1 Live science: http://m.livescience.com/27421-mount-etna.html This website explains the size, location, and the history of Mount Etna. Credibility Score: 7 2 Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mount_Etna This website explains the activity, geological eruptions, and historical eruptions. Credibility Score: 8 3Citelighter: http://geology.com/volcanoes/etna/ This website explains the plate tectonic setting of Mount Etna .

Annotated Bibliography 4 . History: http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/mount-etna-erupts This website explains the first eruptions of Mount Etna. Credibility Score:7 5 NCBI: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/8867507 This website describes the destruction of the major eruption of Mount Etna in 1928. Credibility Score: 9