Italian Police help Dave Green with his enquiries

Italian Police Help Dave Green with his Enquiries

During a recent excursion to examine Neapolitan volcanoes, under the tutelage of Dave Green, we arrived in the small town of Pollena Trocchia. Dave's researches had told him there was a small scoria cone on the flanks of Monte Somma, somewhere near Pollena Trocchia.

Not sure of the exact location we did the obvious thing - we asked a policeman. And, surprisingly, got an extremely positive response. Not only did he know what we were talking about, (having a completely bilingual driver helped), he escorted us to the site and gave a well-informed summary of the geological history! 

Before the area - an old, vast, quarry - had been cleaned up, it had been a dumping ground for stolen cars. Which may explain his particular knowledge of the site. 

Dave Green (with bag and hammer) consults with policeman.

The cone was well worth visiting. Half had been quarried giving a view inside the cone.

The scoria cone. The feeder dyke is the grass covered area in the centre.

This was one of the older outcrops seen on our excursion. As far as I can remember it is about 17,000 years old. No doubt I will be corrected if I am wrong! You can see the picture in a larger format HERE.