Etna's magma hints at a previously unknown type of volcanism

A new study finds Mount Etna's lava originates from a melt in the mantle's low-velocity zone and rises through a tectonically complex zone at the Africa-Eurasia boundary, producing early silica-rich lava and later alkali-rich lava, suggesting Etna represents a previously unclassified form of volcanism that could be more widespread than scientists previously thought.