ABSTRACT
The activity of Mount Etna has always been characterized by spectacular lava fountaining events, ranging from strombolian to plinian and causing copious ash fallout varying from tens to hundreds of kilometers away from the vent. In August 2011 a large amount of volcanic ash, hereafter referred to as Etna Sand, was erupted and fell down, blown by the wind, on the Ionian coast North of the city of Catania. Due to its highly crushable and compressible nature, the Etna Sand may result to be problematic from an engineering and construction viewpoint and mechanical characterization, as well as the constitutive modeling, involves practical and theoretical difficulties.
