{"id":22414,"date":"2024-04-09T17:46:38","date_gmt":"2024-04-09T17:46:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/2024\/04\/09\/mt-etna-puffs-perfect-smoke-rings-into-sicilian-sky\/"},"modified":"2024-04-09T17:46:38","modified_gmt":"2024-04-09T17:46:38","slug":"mt-etna-puffs-perfect-smoke-rings-into-sicilian-sky","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/2024\/04\/09\/mt-etna-puffs-perfect-smoke-rings-into-sicilian-sky\/","title":{"rendered":"Mt. Etna Puffs Perfect Smoke Rings Into Sicilian Sky"},"content":{"rendered":"<div style=\"text-align:center\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1050\" height=\"550\" src=\"https:\/\/i3.wp.com\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2024\/04\/09\/multimedia\/09italy-volcano-03-pfkg\/09italy-volcano-03-pfkg-facebookJumbo.jpg?resize=1050,550&amp;ssl=1\" class=\"attachment-post-thumbnail size-post-thumbnail wp-post-image\" alt=\"Mt. Etna Puffs Perfect Smoke Rings Into Sicilian Sky\" title=\"Mt. Etna Puffs Perfect Smoke Rings Into Sicilian Sky\" \/><\/div><p> <br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div>\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">For just over a week, Mt. Etna, one of Europe\u2019s most active volcanoes, has been spewing circular, mostly white smoke rings into the skies over Sicily.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">It\u2019s not the first time Mt. Etna has enchanted onlookers with its puffing (it\u2019s been dubbed the <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dailymail.co.uk\/news\/article-2566812\/Incredible-moment-Mount-Etna-puffs-perfectly-formed-50-METRE-smoke-rings-blue-sky-coast-Sicily.html\" title=\"\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">Gandalf of volcanoes<\/a>, after the pipe-puffing wizard in \u201cLord of the Rings.\u201d) But experts there say this month Etna \u201chas broken all previous records\u201d with the frequency of the rings, according to Boris Behncke, a volcanologist at the National Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology of Catania, who <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/1515764014\/videos\/341134301767089\/\" title=\"\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">posted about the phenomenon on Facebook<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">The rings, known as volcanic vortex rings, appeared earlier this month after a small vent opened on the northwest border of the Southeast crater. The phenomenon occurs when enough pressure builds up so that magma inside the crater propels condensed gases, predominantly water vapor, through the vent.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">In this case, the vent is perfectly circular, making for particularly perfect rings. \u201cIt is bellissimo,\u201d said Simona Scollo, another volcanologist at the INGV Etna Observatory in Catania, using the Italian word for beautiful. Ms. Scollo copublished a study on the dynamics of volcanic vortex rings last year in the journal <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nature.com\/articles\/s41598-022-26435-0\" title=\"\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">Scientific Reports<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">But, she said, the activity does not mean that Mt. Etna is going to erupt in a particularly spectacular way. \u201cNo, no, no,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">During a telephone interview Tuesday, she said that the mechanism for the smoke rings was similar to how dolphins <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=UkmfmosZONc\" title=\"\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">blow bubble rings<\/a>. \u201cThey compress the water in their mouths, and using their tongue they push it out of their mouths and create such a pressure that it forms a ring,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Depending on weather conditions, the rings hang in the air anywhere from one to 10 minutes, according to the study. \u201cIf there is turbulence they fall apart more quickly,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Interviewed in <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2023\/03\/21\/science\/volcanoes-smoke-rings-vapor.html\" title=\"\">The New York Times<\/a> last year, Ms. Scollo said the study hoped to better understand how volcanoes functioned, \u201cnot only when they create a disaster for people or when they are very dangerous,\u201d but in calmer times, too.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">The new vent in the volcano has been spewing hundreds of rings, but another opening on the volcano has also been spewing rings, albeit more spaced out, since last year. <\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">The phenomenon was first recorded on Etna in 1724, followed by periodic sightings, most recently <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.livescience.com\/planet-earth\/volcanos\/eerily-perfect-vortex-rings-keep-blowing-out-of-europes-most-active-volcano-heres-why\" title=\"\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">last year<\/a>, and quite <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.volcanodiscovery.com\/it\/photoglossary\/smoke_ring.html\" title=\"\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">spectacularly in 2000.<\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">According to the description for its 2013 inscription as a UNESCO <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/whc.unesco.org\/en\/list\/1427\/#:~:text=Mount%20Etna%20is%20an%20iconic,active%20stratovolcano%20in%20the%20world.\" title=\"\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">World Heritage site<\/a>, Mt. Etna is \u201cthe highest Mediterranean island mountain and the most active stratovolcano in the world.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cNo volcano on earth produces as many volcanic vortex rings as Etna, we knew this for some time,\u201d noted Mr. Behncke.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Mt. Etna isn\u2019t the only volcano where the phenomenon has been registered. Volcanic vortex rings have been puffed by <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nature.com\/articles\/s41598-022-26435-0\/tables\/1\" title=\"\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">a number of volcanoes<\/a> worldwide, from <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=sNIKDrUO29Y\" title=\"\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">Momotombo<\/a> in Nicaragua to <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2010\/04\/16\/world\/europe\/16ash.html\" title=\"\">ash-spewing<\/a> plane stopper Eyjafjallaj\u00f6kul in Iceland, to <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/31220278@N05\/3880927815\/\" title=\"\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">Mt. Redoubt<\/a> in Alaska to another active Italian volcano, <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.swisseduc.ch\/stromboli\/volcano\/sciara0203\/preflow-en.html?id=1\" title=\"\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">Stromboli<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Ms. Scollo said that the activity from the new vent was slowing down. And it could end altogether.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cIt can stop because the properties of the conduit that allowed for the formation of these volcanic vortex rings can change, maybe with obstructions,\u201d she said. Or the amount of gas within the conduit could decrease, she added.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<p><br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2024\/04\/09\/world\/europe\/smoke-rings-italy-volcano.html\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>For just over a week, Mt. Etna, one of Europe\u2019s most active volcanoes, has been spewing circular, mostly white smoke rings into the skies over Sicily. It\u2019s not the first time Mt. Etna has enchanted onlookers with its puffing (it\u2019s been dubbed the Gandalf of volcanoes, after the pipe-puffing wizard in \u201cLord of the Rings.\u201d) [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":22415,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"tdm_status":"","tdm_grid_status":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2024\/04\/09\/multimedia\/09italy-volcano-03-pfkg\/09italy-volcano-03-pfkg-facebookJumbo.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[27877,3457,27878,20380,23755,2118,27879],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22414"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=22414"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22414\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":22416,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22414\/revisions\/22416"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/22415"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=22414"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=22414"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=22414"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}