How Science Works - Journey to Etna

Clive Oppenheimer, a volcanologist working on the latest techniques to monitor and predict volcanic eruptions, demonstrates his work at Mount Etna, an active volcano in Sicily.

Volcanic eruptions pose a real threat to communities living nearby, and at their most violent they have wiped out whole cities. Clive is an expert in developing new techniques for monitoring volcanoes, and works with scientists around the world. It's a difficult job, because most of the activity happens deep below ground.

Clive meets with his research students who monitor the volcanoes. To look at how the latest techniques are developing, he takes a trip up Etna to collect fresh lava samples, then heads to the Institute of Volcanology (INGV), about 20 km away, to analyse some of the new data.

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