AAPG Europe's latest GTW 'Fractured Reservoirs: the Geological, Geophysical and Engineering tools to crack them' conference provided us with the opportunity to visit the island of Sicily, steeped in both beauty, and an active geological history. And what is a trip to Sicily without a visit to the tallest volcano in Europe?
The iconic Mount Etna resides on the eastern side of the island boasting a height at the summit of 3,340m A.S.L and flanks that span over 1,260km2, although its eerie presence seems to loom over the island's entirety, with its dangerous beauty lulling you into a false sense of security.
We were lucky enough to receive the VIP treatment, led by volcanologist and Mount Etna expert Dr.Carmelo Ferlito, from the University of Catania, who assured us we'd be taking a 'unique' tour of what Etna had to offer. And off the beaten track it was!
Our first stop was to observe the small parasitic cones on the lower flanks of the Etnean edifice, a somewhat pre cursor for the white-topped splendour we were about to experience. From this point, we were able to experience the complex geological setting that moulded Etna's morphology with the Hyblean Plateau fold-thrust belt system in our immediate line of vision. After a quick stop off and photo opportunity, it was back on the bus to face our ascent further up Etnas flanks.
Eventually, the bus could take us no further, and it was time to begin our ascent up this magnificent stratovolcano. There it was, covered in a metre of unexpected snow, and there we were, questioning if we had made the right choice looking up at the daunting challenge ahead. We decided to go for it, and not look back (or down!).
After a 10 minute climb through the deep powder, our first point of call was a large graben structure, allowing us to understand the extensional rifting that had taken place during Etna's formation, and plunging us deeper into the complex geological context of the area. Once we had got out breath back, and had an opportunity to absorb out our surroundings, we continued onwards and indeed, upwards sampling Etna's complex petrology along the way. Perfect examples of basaltic and pyroclastic lava flows, heavily vesiculated and dark in colour, only had me wishing I had dusted off my hand lens to sample its inner detail.
As our seemingly never ending ascent continued, we soldiered on through the snow until we reached a prominent NNW-SSE trending dyke, a prominent feature and natural stopping point in the otherwise all white blanket that surrounded us. The dyke boasted large feldspathic crystals at around 50% of the total composition, and whose presence could not go unnoticed within its surrounding dark basaltic matrix. This particular dyke had been the subject of some of Carmelo's recent research, who explained his unique theory regarding magma crystallisation, with the formation of crystals occurring after the magma had been extruded, and controversially at a fast cooling rate. Allowing us one step closer into Etna's complex inner workings.
Continuing the ascent up the white flanks of Etna we finally reached the breath taking and main focus of our trip, the Valle de Bove, a collapsed caldera, 8km in width, carved into the eastern flank of the Etnean edifice. No words could describe the views from here, instantly leaving us free of the worries we faced at the beginning of our ascent. It seemed like the natural place to stop for lunch, although, we were accompanied by a constant haze of gas from Etna's summit, a gentle reminder of its dangerous capabilities.
It seemed lunch provided us with a new lease of life, and the energy to begin making our descent. Following Carmelo, who seemed at home in the snow, we leaped, ran, slid and fell our way down to the bottom of Etna, where our guided tour ended.