Vulcano (Italy)

Status Normal Eruption 1890 500m
Stratovolcano(es) (Subduction zone / Continental crust (> 25 km))

The word volcano is derived from Vulcano stratovolcano in Italy's Aeolian Islands. Vulcano was constructed during six stages during the past 136,000 years. Two overlapping calderas, the 2.5-km-wide Caldera del Piano on the SE and the 4-km-wide Caldera della Fossa on the NW, were formed at about 100,000 and 24,000-15,000 years ago, respectively, and volcanism has migrated to the north over time. La Fossa cone, active throughout the Holocene and the location of most of the historical eruptions, occupies the 3-km-wide Caldera della Fossa at the NW end of the elongated 3 x 7 km island. The Vulcanello lava platform forms a low, roughly circular peninsula on the northern tip of Vulcano that was formed as an island beginning in 183 BCE and was connected to Vulcano in about 1550 CE. Vulcanello is capped by three pyroclastic cones and was active intermittently until the 16th century. The latest eruption from Vulcano consisted of explosive activity from the Fossa cone from 1898 to 1900.

The island of Vulcano in Italy's Aeolian Islands is the origin of the word volcano. It is seen here from the volcano observatory on the island of Lipari to the north, with the volcanic peninsula of Vulcanello, initially formed in 183 BCE, in the foreground and Fossa cone in the background. Vulcano consists of at least three volcanic complexes, each of which is truncated by a small caldera. Volcanism has migrated to the north, with Fossa cone being the dominant Holocene center. The latest eruption took place from 1888 to 1890.

Photo by Richard Waitt, 1985 (U.S. Geological Survey).

Last updated 2019-08-19 08:30:03