The Italian volcano Stromboli ends up on the big screen: among the sources of inspiration for the new film “Avatar: Fire and Ash” – released in cinemas today, Wednesday 17 December – in fact there is also the active volcano of Aeolian Islandschosen as a visual model for the new territories of the planet Pandora.
The volcanic island, in particular, was used to represent the tribe of Ash (ash), who inhabit one of the most hostile territories on the planet of Avatar. As confirmed by the director himself James Cameronthe filming of Stromboli would have been fundamental to reduce the CGI (Computer-Generated Imagery), or the computer-generated image used to create visual effects.
The characteristics of the volcano, from lava flows untilpersistent eruptive activitythey in fact represented the ideal material for the setting. This third chapter of Avatar, which also drew inspiration from other landscapes in New Zealand and China, will then be followed by 2 other films, arriving in the next few years.
Here you are what to know about this active volcano and its eruptive activity, which is constantly monitored.
The Sciara del Fuoco, one of the scenarios of Avatar 3 – Fire and Ash
In the trailer released by 20th Century it is immediately recognisable Sciara del Fuocowhich is a steeply located depression on the northwestern flank of Stromboli and characterized by a “horseshoe” shape. Formed about 5,000 years ago following a landslidethe Sciara del Fuoco descends to around 1,700 meters below sea level.
It is precisely on the Sciara del Fuoco that most of the volcanic products emitted from the summit craters during eruptions; in the case of more intense effusive activities, lava flows can form on the slope and descend towards the sea.
In essence, today the Sciara del Fuoco constitutes the active side of what is defined as the “Current Stromboli”.
The formation of the Stromboli volcano
From a geological point of view, Stromboli is originated following the subduction of the Ionian Plate beneath the Calabrian one: experts believe that, over a million years ago, it was an underwater volcano, while the most recent visible activity dates back to 200,000 years ago, with the so-called Strombolicchio. Today all that remains of this first volcano is the “volcanic neck”, that is, a portion of solidified magma inside the volcanic conduit, which looks like a high rock 49 meters and about 2 km away from the main island.
The island of Stromboli, however, dates back to approximately 100,000 years ago: Overall, the history of the volcano is divided into 8 periods, in each of which the volcanic edifice was partly demolished and partly rebuilt, until reaching the current form. What we see today, therefore, is the result of the last eruptive cycle, which occurred approximately 5,000 years ago.
The eruptive activity of Stromboli that fascinated James Cameron
Stromboli is one of the most active volcanoes in the world, with its “persistent” eruptive activity which, not surprisingly, has been renamed “Strombolian activity”: today this term is also used to describe other volcanoes, in the case of eruptions of rather limited intensity and duration (the so-calledyou snort”).
Generally, a short amount of time passes between one Stromboli eruption and the next, from a few minutes up to a maximum of several hours. The material produced by smaller intensity eruptions is mainly composed of lapilli, ash and fragments of lava, with the eruptive column of limited dimensions, which reaches a few tens of metres.
It may happen, however, that the volcano gives rise to more intense eruptive phenomena than average, which are called paroxysms. The last important paroxysmal phase dates back to 2022, when even a small tsunami wave was created due to the volcanic material that ended up in the sea. The month of November 2025, however, was characterized by a series of lava overflows from the North Crater area, accompanied by continuous activity spattering – that is, the emission of shreds of lava from the mouth of the volcano.
