Vulcano or Vulcan is a small volcanic island in the Tyrrhenian Sea, about north of Sicily and located at the southernmost end of the seven Aeolian Islands. The island is in area, rises to above sea level, and it contains several volcanic calderas, including one of the four active volcanoes in Italy that are not submarine. The word "volcano", and its equivalent in several European languages, derives from the name of this island, which in turn derives from Vulcan, the Roman god of fire.
History
The Romans used the island mainly for raw materials, harvesting timber, and mining alum and sulfur. These were the principal activities on the island until the end of the nineteenth century. After the Bourbon rule collapsed in 1860, the Scottish industrialist and philanthropist James Stevenson bought the northern part of the island. He then built a villa, reopened the local mines, and planted vineyards for making Malmsey wine. Stevenson lived on Vulcano until the last major eruption on the island happened in 1888. This eruption lasted the better part of two years, by which time Stevenson had sold all of his property to the local populace. He never returned to the island. His villa is still intact.
Geology
The volcanic activity in the region is largely the result of the northward-moving African Plate meeting the Eurasian Plate. There are three volcanic centres on the island:
At the southern end of the island are old stratovolcano cones, Monte Aria, Monte Saraceno, and Monte Luccia, which have partially collapsed into the Il Piano Caldera.
The most recently active centre is the Gran Cratere at the top of the Fossa cone, the cone having grown in the Lentia Caldera in the middle of the island, and has had at least nine major eruptions in the last 6,000 years.
At the north of the island is the islet, Vulcanello, connected to Vulcano by an isthmus that may be flooded in bad weather. It emerged from the sea during an eruption in 183 BCE, as a separate islet. Occasional eruptions from its three cones with both pyroclastic flow deposits and lavas occurred from then until 1550, with the last eruption creating a narrow isthmus connecting it to Vulcano.
Vulcano has been quiet since the eruption of the Fossa cone on 3 August 1888 to 1890, which deposited about of pyroclastic material on the summit. The style of eruption seen on the Fossa cone is called a Vulcanian eruption, being the explosive emission of pyroclastic fragments of viscous magmas caused by the high viscosity preventing gases from escaping easily. This eruption of Vulcano was carefully documented at the time by Giuseppe Mercalli. Mercalli described the eruptions as "...explosions sounding like a cannon at irregular intervals..." As a result, vulcanian eruptions are based on his description. A typical vulcanian eruption can hurl blocks of solid material several hundreds of metres from the vent. Mercalli reported that blocks from the 1888–1890 eruption fell into the sea between Vulcano and Lipari, and several that had fallen on the island of Vulcano were photographed by him or his assistants. Volcanic gas emissions from this volcano are measured by a multicomponent gas analyzer system, which detects degassing of rising magmas before an eruption, improving prediction of volcanic activity. A survey on local groundwater occurred during 1995–1997 showed temperatures up to 49–75 °C, sodium sulfate-chloride chemical composition, and near neutral pH in the water wells closest to the slopes of the volcanic cone. This is mainly due to condensation onto the slopes of the volcanic cone and water-rock interaction buffering.
Population
At the 2011 Census, Vulcano had a population of 953 residents, living in three localities – Vulcano Porto, Vulcano Piano and Vulcanello.
Biology
Since Vulcano island has volcanic activity, it is a place where thermophiles and hyperthermophiles are likely to be found. In fact, the hyperthermophilic archaeaPyrococcus furiosus was described for the first time when it was isolated from sediments of this island by Gerhard Fiala and Karl Stetter.
Mythology
The Ancient Greeks named this island Therasía and Thérmessa. The island appeared in their myths as the private foundry of the Olympian godHephaestus, the patron of blacksmiths. Their myths noted two more of his foundries, at Etna and Olympus. Strabo also mentions Thermessa as sacred place of Hephaestus, but it is not certain whether this was a third name for the island, or merely an adjective. Similarly, the Romans believed that Vulcano was the chimney of their god Vulcan's workshop and, therefore, named the island after him. According to the Roman myths, the island had grown due to his periodic clearing of cinders and ashes from his forge. They also explained earthquakes that either preceded or accompanied the explosions of ash as being due to Vulcan making weapons for their god Mars for his armies to wage war.
Appearances in contemporary culture
The motion pictureVulcano was filmed on Vulcano and the nearby island of Salina between 1949 and 1950. An asteroid is named for this island, 4464 Vulcano. The island of Vulcano is featured in the Battle Tendency story arc of the manga JoJo's Bizarre Adventure by Hirohiko Araki, as the scene of the final clash between the protagonist Joseph Joestar and the antagonist Kars, leader of the Pillar Men. The American attorney and writer, Richard Paul Roe, asserts that the play The Tempest by William Shakespeare is set on the island of Vulcano, rather than the more authoritative interpretation that the setting was based on reports about Bermuda in the Americas and a hurricane encountered there. The island is referred to by the Da Vinci character in the episode "Concerning Flight" while speaking to Tuvok, an alien from a planet named Vulcan.
