Climate forcing of volcano lateral collapse: evidence from Mount Etna, Sicily

A catastrophic lateral collapse of Mount Etna, Sicily, occurred around 7.5 thousand years ago (ka BP), reshaping its eastern flank and forming the Valle del Bove—a 5 x 8 km cliff-bounded amphitheatre. Cosmogenic (3)He exposure dating of eroded surfaces in an abandoned watershed adjacent to the amphitheatre provides definitive evidence for this prehistoric collapse, linked to early Holocene climatic conditions. The study suggests that increased precipitation during this period saturated the volcanic edifice, leading to excess pore pressures and reduced sliding resistance, which, combined with magma emplacement in rift zones, triggered the collapse. This mechanism highlights a potential driver for future lateral collapses in volcanic landscapes facing climate change-induced increases in precipitation or ice melt.

Deeming, K. R., McGuire, B., & Harrop, P. (2010). Climate forcing of volcano lateral collapse: evidence from Mount Etna, Sicily. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society A: Mathematical, Physical and Engineering Sciences, 368(1919), 2559–2577. https://doi.org/10.1098/rsta.2010.0054