Etna Has Its Third Major Eruption of 2012

For the third time in as many months, Europe's tallest and most active volcano, Etna, has erupted. Volcanologist and Eruptions blogger Erik Klemetti reports on the activity.
Image may contain Mountain Outdoors Nature Volcano and Eruption
Explosions from the third paroxysm of Etna in 2012.

Etna just keeps on rolling. The Italian volcano had its third paroxysm of 2012 (see above) on March 4 and its first since early February. This new eruption was a short event that was preceded by 18 days worth of small strombolian activity. The event may have been only ~2 hours, but it produced some spectacular explosions, aiding in some part by interaction with snow, and a pyroclastic flow was spotted as well. Osservatario Etneo reported that even a small lahar was produced during this paroxysm as a result of volcanic material mixing with snow. Air traffic around Sicily was not effected by this paroxysm. As usual, Eruptions readers were all over the event, capturing web cam captures and images (below), and Boris Behncke snapped a few shots of the action as usual.

The plume from the March 4, 2012 eruption of Etna in Italy.Image: Tenqa

Image 1: Etna erupting on March 4, 2012 / Dr. Boris Behncke, Flickr
Image 2: Webcam capture of the March 4, 2012 eruption of Etna / Eruptions reader Gitta Dodt