Sketch map of eastern Sicily showing location of Etna and other important structural elements of the geology of the region. Faults are shown in black; the volcanics of the Hyblean Plateau (Monti Iblei) are shown in pink color. The late 1950's and 1960's have seen the advent of the concept of Plate Tectonics which is now generally accepted and appears to explain neatly a vast range of geological phenomena of the past and the present. In this framework, volcanism is basically associated with t...