An island off the coast of Sicily--submerged like the Atlantis of myth--might soon rise again. Fishers report sulfurous gases and dead fish in the area, divers say the water is unusually warm, and scientists are monitoring events.
The volcanic seamount, 22 kilometers offshore, last rose above the Mediterranean waves 171 years ago, spewing smoke and fire. The black peak formed an island 70 meters high that lasted 6 months before crumbling--but not before Sicilians claimed it as Ferdinandea, after their king. The peak now lies less than 10 meters below the surface.
Ferdinandea makes its last appearance off Sicily in this 1831 oil painting.
CREDIT: PICTURE COURTESY OF DOMENICO MACALUSO
Ferdinandea's rebirth would not surprise Enzo Boschi, president of the Italian National Institute of Geophysics. Sicily has been a seismic hot spot since September, when the first of several earthquakes shook the island and Mount Etna's violent eruptions gathered pace. "We want to determine how all these events are all connected," he says, adding that it is not clear when Ferdinandea might resurface. There is a remote chance that an eruption, or the island's collapse, could cause a minor tsunami, he says. But Sicilians aren't worried. "They're more excited about increasing tourism."
