Mount Etna is a volcano. We all know it, we can see it clearly and it certainly does not allow us to forget it with its periodic and spectacular eruptions. The conical shape, the summit craters, the constantly visible smoke … these characteristics are common to many other similar mountains. We easily recognize a volcano: Stromboli is a volcano, so is the Vesuvius – although silent – they let us understand it very well. But there are some places that leave the doubt hovering: is this a volcano or not? And if so, is it a “real” volcano? In Sicily we have at least four of these mysterious places: the Salinelle, the Maccalube, Mount Kronio and the island of Lipari.
Salinelle and Maccalube
Crossing throughout the territory of the island, according to a sort of diagonal that starts from the southwest and ends in the east, these mini volcanoes that erupt mud and water are real tourist attractions. The Salinelle are located in Paternò, in the district of Catania, the Maccalube instead between Agrigento and Caltanissetta. Are they the same thing? But above all … are they volcanoes?
The Salinelle of Paternò are a real mystery because they contain all the characteristics of post-volcanic and secondary volcanic phenomena. They are almost certainly what remains of an ancient volcano and are fed by tectonic wedges that form the most advanced front of the Gela Fault. When they are “quiet” they emit sulphurous waters and gas, when they erupt they emit jets of mud mixed with other minerals. The Maccalube, which are located between the territories of Agrigento and Caltanissetta (the most famous are in Aragona), are a phenomenon linked to the presence of clay soils that are invaded underground by brackish water pushed by methane gas. It is called “sedimentary volcanism”, that is characteristics similar to those of real volcanoes but fed by gas, not by fire. So calling the Maccalube “volcanoes” is not correct.
Mount Kronio
Also in the district of Agrigento, in the territory of Sciacca, there is a rocky hill called Monte San Calogero-Monte Kronio. At the top of the hill a sanctuary has been built that has always been famous for its “healing springs” that connect to the Sciacca spa. At the top of Mount Kronio, in particular, there are vents of hot steam that people have always used to treat respiratory diseases. Once freely accessible, today they are regulated by an entrance fee. Studies around Mount Kronio have never detected the presence of lava or lapilli. So we can say that this is not a real volcano but the result of the movement of tectonic faults that generated the emergence of rocks and gas vents.
The island of Lipari
The island of Lipari is not a volcano … everyone thinks. Because no one has ever seen it erupt, nor have phenomena such as vents, explosions and fumaroles ever been witnessed. After all, the entire island is populated, cultivated and there are no visible traces of any activity. Yet the last certified eruption in Lipari dates back to 1230, so “just” 794 years ago… which in geological terms is really a short time ago! This means that this volcano cannot be considered “extinguished”… but dormant.
In particular, the one under special surveillance is Mount Pilato hill. This cone, among those present in Lipari, is the crater that has erupted most often in “recent” times. We refer to the eruptions in the year 780, year 1230 and also a series of explosions that occurred in the 16th century. The problem is that these eruptions are spaced out by centuries, so the locals “lose memory of them”. In fact, today, Lipari’s Mount Pilato is inhabited and covered with cultivated fields. The tourists who arrive on holiday here, they admire it from every side, unaware that they are actually looking at a real volcano. And this volcano one day… no one knows when… will erupt again! (PHOTOS BY G. MUSUMECI)