It is a lava field with a Hawaiian surface morphology and for its scenic beauty and features is unique in the Alcantara Valley and in the whole Etna northern slope.
The area can be linked to the effusive eruptions of Monte Dolce (863 m a.s.l.), an eccentric cone of prehistoric times with basaltic magmas of the hawaiites family, with morphological structures of pahoehoe lava: lava ropes, lava draperies, slab lava and lava tubes.
The peculiarity of the lavas of Contrada Melicocchita (which can be seen near Castiglione di Sicilia, in the Verzella district) are the pressure ridges: they are circular or oval swelling of the back of a lava flow, due to the gas accumulated under the surface of the partially solidified flows, which cannot expand for the presence of morphological obstacles. These elements are formed only during long-term eruptions, with the creation of wide lava fields fed by lava flowing within a network of tubes and galleries; there are many volcanic flow caves in these lavas.