Supervolcano Excursion – Sunday 17 September

EXCURSION TO THE SUPERVOLCANO – SUNDAY 17 SEPTEMBER

The Sesia supervolcano has once again demonstrated its appeal.

The excursion on Sunday 17 September, led by its discoverer, Professor Silvano Sinigoi, was very well attended; it took a large group of people from various parts of Piedmont and Lombardy to explore the interior of the magma conduit with him. This is a unique phenomenon in the world: in Valsesia, it is possible to walk amongst the remains of the volcano, exposed along the river, admiring the rocks which vary depending on their location, from the base near Balmuccia to the summit of the caldera in the Prato Sesia area and beyond.

Prof. Sinigoi presented a new discovery: a fresh stop on the supervolcano trail. Beneath the suspension bridge at Baraggiolo, on the outskirts of Varallo, easy access allows visitors to climb down and view diorite rocks containing fragments of basaltic magma. These rocks are similar to those at the Aniceti stop at the start of the Val Mastallone, but with more elongated magma inclusions.

In addition to the Sesia Valley Protected Areas Authority, which organised access to the visitor points, and to Alessandra Maffeo, who accompanied us, our thanks go to the Municipality of Balmuccia, which allowed us to use the Teatro Sociale to hear about the research and the presentation of the excursion, and to the Gattinara Cultural Association, which made its premises available to us in the palace of Cardinal Mercurino Arborio di Gattinara, thus bringing the day to a pleasant and culturally enriching close.