Mount Etna, a volcano in Italy, delighted tourists by emitting rare smoke rings into the sky earlier this week, captured in footage filmed on April 6.
The phenomenon, observed four days after the rings were first spotted, involved plumes of smoke being emitted from the top of the mountain, forming distinct rings.
Rings Are Not Smoke
Dr. Boris Behncke, a volcanologist from the National Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology in Catania, explains that these rings are not composed of smoke but are condensed gasses, primarily water vapors, escaping from the magma and rising from the volcano’s vent.
Magma, a blend of molten and semi-molten rock beneath Earth’s surface, releases hot volcanic gasses in short pulses, forming these rings.
Activity Poses No Danger
Dr. Behncke noted that Mount Etna produces more smoke rings than any other volcano globally.
Fortunately, this volcanic activity posed no danger to humans or structures.
According to the UNESCO World Heritage Center, located on Sicily’s eastern coast, Mount Etna is renowned as the highest Mediterranean island mountain and the most active stratovolcano worldwide.
