Mount Etna (Italy)

Subject: Geography

Context: For a week Mt Etna has been belching lava, ash and volcanic rocks on a regular basis as a result of eruption.

Concept:

Mount Etna is the highest Mediterranean island mountain and the most active stratovolcano or Composite volcano in the world. It is about 3,326 metres high and is the highest peak in Italy South of the Alps.
The almost continuous eruptive activity of Mount Etna continues to influence volcanology, geophysics and other Earth science disciplines.
It also impacts terrestrial ecosystems including endemic flora and fauna and its activity makes it a natural laboratory for the study of ecological and biological processes.

About Composite volcano

Cone-shaped volcanoes built from many layers of lava, pumice, ash, and tephra.
Due to multiple layers of viscous material, rather than fluid lava, composite volcanoes tend to form tall peaks rather than rounded cones.
Sometimes the summit crater collapses to form a caldera.
Composite volcanoes are responsible for the most catastrophic eruptions in history.
So far, Mars is the only place in the solar system besides Earth known to have stratovolcanoes.