Etna East – Territory: Zafferana
Coordinates: 37° 43′ 19′ N 14° 2′ 24”E / 37.722052; 15.040250
ELEVATION: 1650 m.
Development: about 225 meters
Nearest known location: Serra Giannicola Grande
Exploration: Can be visited with speleological equipment.  
Explored by: Dario Teri, Paolo Teri on 14.10.2022/XNUMX/XNUMX. 
Notified to the relevant municipality on \\
This lava cave, which is presumed unexplored, is located on presumed lavas from the 2006 eruption and for a few meters was spared by the 2019 lavas generated by a sub-terminal mouth of the south-east crater. It is a very fascinating cave whose easiest access is from the point indicated in the coordinates. There is a small collapse of the vault that offers access to the hypogeum. This extends downstream for a few dozen meters with a lowering of the vault that makes it almost impossible to continue, while upstream there are the most interesting developments. From a fairly large room of 5/6 meters wide, dominated in the center by a hole in the vault that lets in a large beam of light that illuminates a large accumulation of volcanic ash in the shape of a pyramid (a phenomenon that is repeated several times, hence the name ...), 3 branches open up. A fairly narrow arm stops after about ten meters. The two most interesting channels go in opposite directions, one upstream and the other downstream. The channel that proceeds upstream after a first very large room, about 6 meters high, in which there is a characteristic mamelon from the ceiling, then drops significantly and it is necessary to proceed lying down after about 30 meters from the main room. After passing this point, which requires a lot of attention, to also avoid detachments from the vault, the cavity subsequently rises again to finally stop on what apparently seems to be a large collapse of the vault. It is most likely instead an arm of lava more recent than the lavas that form the cave (presumably er. 2019) that managed to enter this cavity. A truly singular phenomenon,
Going back you can visit the arm that flows downstream. This has very interesting morphologies. Also in this case it is necessary to proceed on all fours for a stretch, then the cave opens again and crosses another lava channel where the flow of a lava flow in a right/left direction is evident on the floor. To the left the cave flows into a narrow inaccessible hole. To the left instead the cavity continues towards a room characterized by a large accretionary boulder that divides the room into two parts. From here you must access by proceeding lying down towards a further room that then stops in an area in which there are several flakes of smooth rocks with a shiny metallic appearance on the ground. The cave has many interesting speleothems, including classic re-melting formations of the vault (so-called dog's teeth) and lava rolls.

 

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Dario Teri October 14, 2022 Unseen & Little-Known Etna Caves No Responses