The Italian volcano Etna, located in on the eastern coast of
Sicily, has had its third paroxysm of 2012 on March 4th, its
first since early February. The new eruption was a relatively
short event, which was preceded by 18 days worth of smaller
strombolian activity, which are relatively lower level volcanic
eruptions. Mount Etna is the tallest active volcano in Europe,
standing at 3,329 m (10,922 ft), and the highest mountain in
Italy, south of the Alps. It is by far the largest active
volcano in Italy, at about two and a half times the height of
the next largest, Mount Vesuvius. Greek mythology says that the
monster Typhon was trapped under Etna by Zeus, and the forges of
Hephaestus are located underneath it. The actual eruption lasted
only approximately 2 hours, but it produced spectacular
explosions, which were heightened by some interaction with snow.
A pyroclastic flow was even spotted. The Osservatario Etneo
reported that a small lahar was produced during this paroxysm,
as a result of snow mixing in with