In the autumn of 2002, after an intense earthquake off the coast of Filicudi and shortly before the beginning of a new effusive activity in Stromboli, a large system of fumaroles activated between the isles of Bottaro and Lisca Bianca, at a depth of around 7-10 metres.
This system of fumaroles had already been present in that area in the past, as shown by the fact that the rocks of Lisca Bianca and Bottaro are covered with sublimates of sulphur and gypsum.
In fact, the very name of Lisca Bianca (meaning White Fishbone in Italian) comes from the fact that this rock is completely white, due to the deposition of gypsum along its faces.
In the fumarole field, gases leave at a temperature of around 40 °C, and unlike the fumaroles of the island of Vulcano, they have no real magmatic origin.
Scientific studies are currently under way in order to verify the origin of this hydrothermal activity, which was already present in the north-eastern part of the island of Panarea, on the beach of Calcara.
