Field observations on the initial lava flow and the fracture system developed during the early days of the Stromboli 2007 eruption

The February-April 2007 Stromboli eruption was followed by numerous scientists and well documented from an integrated geophysical analysis. By contrast, direct visual observations on the summit craters and Bastimento area were difficult during the first three days of the eruption because of bad weather conditions. In this paper we report field observations on the fracture system after the crisis of February 27th and before the summit explosion on March 15th. The observations were focused on the early lava flow emplacement and deformation at elevations between 400 and 700 m a.s.l., i.e. between the summit crater area and the lateral fissure eruption, along the Sciara del Fuoco (SdF).