19th International Symposium on Vulcanospeleology 2021
The 19th International Symposium on Vulcanospeleology will take place near one of the highest and most active volcanoes in Europe, Mount Etna.
The symposium is organised by the Gruppo Grotte Catania on behalf of the Commission on Volcanic Caves of the UIS.
The volcano, more than 500 thousand years old, born from the sea and developed in height,owes its charm to its continuous eruptive activity with lava flows that overlap one on another over the years.
More than 300 volcanic caves are known on Mount Etna and the speleological group,
Gruppo Grotte Catania, has more than 80 years of experience in the area spent in exploring and mapping all the Etna caves.
Guided tours are planned to admire the pillows and columnar basalts, evidence of the first eruptions of the volcano, the very famous Bove valley, a large basin 1km deep and 5km wide, the result of an ancient depression of the volcano and, finally, both lava flow caves and fracture caves.