A visit to Stromboli, lighthouse of the Mediterranean

Abstract

About daybreak of the next morning, the perfect cone-shaped outline of Stromboli appeared on the horizon. No "red" glare could be seen, but a prominent column of white vapor was rising from the crater, and at infrequent emitted. As the boat steamed around the edge of Stromboli, the big "scar' on the slope, known as Sciara del Fuoco, stood out prominently. This remarkable feature, with a slope of 35 degrees and a width of about three-quarters of a mile, is like a tremendous talus slope and extends from the crater to the sea, a distance of about 4,000 feet. Much of the erupted material, including lava flows ejected from the crater, lands on the Sciara del Fuoco and rolls directly into the sea. The origin of the Sciara del Fuoco is uncertain, but it appears to represent a great depression formed by an eruption which destroyed one side of the cone. The accumulation of debris in the depression has built up the present talus-like slope. The crater of Stromboli is on a terrace at the top of the Sciara del Fuoco, about 600 feet below the summit peak.