Lava domes of the southern part of Lipari (photo by G. De Astis). On the leaf is the island of Vulcano, with the cone of La Fossa in the centre.
A sector of the ex-quarry of M. Pilato for the extraction of pumice (photo by G. De Astis). The products of Monte Pilato are the most recent erupted on the island (between 776 and 1230 AD)
Lipari is a still active volcanic system, as evidenced by the eruptions that took place in historical times and the weak hydrothermal and fumarolic activity (T=80-90°C) visible in the western part of the island (Timpone Pataso, Timpone Ospedale, Vallone Ponte). With temperatures of 57°C, even the thermal springs that flow from the Bagni di S. Calogero and in the Vallone di Bagno Secco are an expression of this tail of volcanic activity.
Location and maximum height: Aeolian Islands Archipelago, Southern Tyrrhenian Sea Lat.= 38°28'2 N. Long.= 14° 57' 14 E; Monte Chirica= 602 m asl
Total area: 37.3 km²
Volcano type: volcanic complex
Main types of eruptions: effusive (with numerous lava domes), phreatomagmatic,
Prevailing phenomena: ground deformation (slow subsidence), seismicity, hydrothermal emissions (on land and at sea)
Beginning of subaerial eruptive activity: approx. 267.000.
Last eruption: 1230 AD
Activity state: quiescent
Alert level: basic
Lipari is the largest of the Aeolian Islands and occupies a position in the central sector of the archipelago, immediately N of Vulcano. Its subaerial eruptive history developed between ca. 267 ka and the Late Middle Ages, largely controlled by the regional strike-slip tectonics which characterizes the alignment of the Vulcano-Lipari-Salina ridge (Tindari-Letojanni fault system). The island is the top part of a building whose base is about 1000 m deep and includes numerous small stratovolcanoes, lava domes, pumice cones and some characteristic obsidian flows or pyroclastic products rich in the precious glassy rock, the fragments of which have been found in many places in the Mediterranean.
In the course of its long history, the island has not only been extensively modified by the alternation of the eruptions which built it up and by the erosive processes which instead remodeled and resized it. Of all the Aeolian Islands, in fact, Lipari is the one that bears the greatest effects of the repeated variations in sea level, visible above all along the coast, and which can be connected to the alternation of glacial and interglacial periods. Lowering and uplifting of the coastline have formed beach deposits which now affect the cliffs at different levels and correspond to marine terraces or fossil beaches.
In the complex geological history of Lipari, due to their wide dispersion on the other islands of the archipelago, it is necessary to remember the eruptions that originated the Monte Guardia sequence (27-24 ka BP, southern sector of the island), and the rhyolitic pyroclastic products with associated obsidian flows erupted several times, in the NE sector. Here, the last eruption of Monte Pilato - which probably occurred in two phases (776 and 1230 AD) - formed a large white pumice cone and the obsidian flows of the Rocche Rosse. From this sector of the island, pumice and obsidian were extracted for millennia and industrially from the mid-50s to the mid-80s, contributing significantly to the island's economy.
Lipari is a still active volcanic system, as evidenced by the eruptions that took place in historical times and the weak hydrothermal and fumarolic activity (T=80-90°) visible in the western part of the island (Timpone Pataso, Timpone Ospedale, Vallone Ponte). With temperatures of 57°C, even the thermal springs that flow from the Bagni di S. Calogero and in the Vallone di Bagno Secco are an expression of this tail of volcanic activity.
Useful links: https://volcano.si.edu/volcano.cfm?vn=211042