Mount Etna is like no other volcano on Earth, new research finds. In fact, the volcano may have formed in a bizarre way, reminiscent of how some seamounts, called petit-spot volcanoes, grow on the ocean floor, researchers reported April 7 in the journal JGR Solid Earth. Although these seamounts are tiny — just a few hundred feet tall — Mount Etna towers 11,165 feet (3,403 meters) above sea level.
"This actually represents a new type of volcanism," Sarah Lambart, a petrologist at the University of Utah who was not involved in the new research, told Live Science.
