Volcanoes of greece. Great Minoan eruption Santorini island Crete volcanic eruption
In August 2014 I was lucky enough to visit Greece dear to my heart again, this time one of the main purposes of the trip was to visit the island of Santorini and its magnificent landscapes - including the volcano Thira. Our tour operator helped us to get to the island of Santorini, who offered one day excursions to the island of Santorini from Heraklion (Heraklion is considered the capital of Crete, its port center). From the hotel we were taken to the port on a small cruise boat. Due to the fact that we took a rather expensive excursion (120 euros per person), our tour. the operator provided us with comfortable seats in the middle of our liner (the sides were very sick). Many tourists traveled on their own, buying the cheapest tickets on the deck. During a boat trip, we came across small islands along the way. A few hours later, our gaze began to open up wonderful views of the island of Santorini, to which we swam, its nature of origin is incredibly different from everything that we are used to seeing. The walls of the rocks are entirely composed of solidified lava, like the whole island, its roads, its landscapes, it is amazing how plants make their way through these rocks, vineyards and olive trees grow. Then we were put in an organized tour bus and on the way to the volcano Tira, which is located in the Fira settlement, they told the story of the origin of the island. Fira is a small tourist town, with narrow streets, through which crowds of tourists roam, from one store to another, smoothly moving towards the Volcano or away from it. The crowd of people, the heat, the smell of donkeys, which are the only means of transport on the narrow streets - all this was left behind and not so significant when we approached the magnificent views that surround the volcano Tira from all sides. Since the observation deck is located at the top of the island, the landscape is ideal for photographing, one problem is that there are so many people who want to take a photo for memory that they rather than a volcano get into the frame. You can enjoy the views endlessly, here you can also have a bite to eat - along the entire path leading to the observation deck there are restaurants and cafes on the street, you can enjoy local ice cream based on goat's milk (very tasty!), Or you can just walk around the shops selling many local goods, both handmade and food (local wine, nuts, pastries). Prices for tourists, in fact, as elsewhere. Magnets - 2-4 euros apiece, a liter bottle of water 1 euro, homemade bracelets from 5 euros and more, local wine could be taken for 12 euros and more, but it was worth it (they say that the Pope himself orders local wine in Santorini ). Santorini has all the conditions for tourists, full service, it all depends on the amount of your money and the desire to visit this unforgettable place, learn the history of the volcano and the entire island, take stunning photographs for memory. You need to come here, not a single photo will convey all the unforgettable beauty of this place.
According to the Greek philosopher Plato, once upon a time there was a beautiful island Atlantis on our planet, inhabited by talented people of high culture. Many scientists still consider Plato's narratives to be just a beautiful myth, but some geological and archaeological studies indicate that the island really existed, and the eruption of the Santorini volcano, located on the island of Thira in the Aegean Sea, became the cause of its death.
Before the eruption of Santorini
Together with several small islets, Thira is part of the Santorini group of islands, belonging to the Cyclades archipelago in the southern Aegean Sea. The island group in the form of a ring is located at the junction of the Eurasian and African tectonic plates, due to which it is distinguished by increased volcanic activity. According to archaeological data, already in the 13th century BC Santorini was inhabited by numerous civilizations, including the famous Minoan, famous for its architecture, painting and high economic development.
Archaeological excavations near the city of Akrotiri in the south of the island of Thira show that there was once a large and dynamic settlement on this site, engaged in trade with the Mediterranean countries. Today, the remains of this once-thriving community are buried under a thick blanket of pumice from a massive eruption during the Late Bronze Age. The exact date of the volcanic event remains controversial, although most radiometric studies suggest the volcano erupted between 1615 and 1645 BC.
Plinian eruption of Santorini volcano
Over the past million years, the Santorini islands have experienced at least 12 major eruptions. The last of them, which destroyed the Minoan civilization and, possibly, Atlantis, happened according to the Plinian type and received the VEI-7 index on an 8-point explosiveness scale. The grandeur of this explosion has been surpassed only by seven ground eruptions that have occurred over the past four millennia, including.
Before the catastrophe, Santorini was a large round island with an estuary filled with sea water. At the end of the Bronze Age, as a result of the eruption, its central highlands collapsed, and a large caldera formed in their place. The island was divided into three parts, which today are the islets of Thira, Thirassia and Aspronisi.
The collapse of the caldera is associated with intense seismic activity, voluminous pyroclastic flows and tsunami that washed away all coastal settlements. During the eruption, the Santorini volcano completely emptied its interior, after which its cone, unable to bear its own weight, collapsed into an empty magma reservoir, where sea waters rushed after it. The resulting giant wave of about 18 meters high swept through the Cyclades archipelago and reached the northern coast of Crete. The tsunami destroyed all settlements on the islands of the Aegean Sea, and also affected the shores of Egypt and other countries of the Mediterranean Sea, halting the development of mankind for a long thousand years.
Modern history of Santorini
After the eruption of Santorini, many other eruptive events took place in the center of the formed caldera. Some of them affected the archipelago in the 19th and 20th centuries. In particular, the last major eruption occurred in 1950. Today Santorini shows constant seismic activity, and fumaroles and hydrothermal springs still operate on some of its islands. Scientists are confident that sooner or later a new eruption will occur here. Its strength is likely to be low to moderate. However, volcanoes such as Santorini are unpredictable, so the likelihood of a powerful eruption, similar to the one that destroyed the Minoan civilization, is still very high.
On the island of Santorini in the Aegean Sea, there is the eponymous volcano Santorini. Now there is a small footprint from it, an ancient caldera, and earlier there was a huge volcano cone: 
Santorini is an active thyroid volcano on the island of Thira in the Aegean Sea, the eruption of which led to the death of Aegean cities and settlements on the islands of Crete, Thira and the Mediterranean coast. The eruption dates from 1645-1600 BC. e. (according to various estimates).
The collapse of the caldera is associated with intense seismic activity, voluminous pyroclastic flows and tsunami that washed away all coastal settlements. During the eruption, the Santorini volcano completely emptied its interior, after which its cone, unable to bear its own weight, collapsed into an empty magma reservoir, where sea waters rushed after it. The resulting giant wave with a height of about 18 meters (according to wikipedia, the data is up to 100m) swept through the Cyclades archipelago and reached the northern coast of Crete. The tsunami destroyed all settlements on the islands of the Aegean Sea, and also affected the shores of Egypt and other countries of the Mediterranean Sea, halting the development of mankind for a long thousand years.
After the eruption of Santorini, many other events took place in the center of the formed caldera. Some of them affected the archipelago in the 19th and 20th centuries. In particular, the last major eruption occurred in 1950. Today Santorini shows constant seismic activity, and fumaroles and hydrothermal springs still operate on some of its islands.
The largest Minoan eruption in ancient history on the island of Thira, or Fira, occurred in 1628 BC. e. (dendrochronological date). The next - the most powerful - happened in 1380 BC. e. (approximate date). The latter happened in 1950.
As far as I've heard, dendrochronology can match the dates of events only a few hundred years ago. There are simply no thousand-year-old trees in the right quantity in the right place.
Geologists have found out how the explosion of the supervolcano caused the "great flood" in Crete
Before the eruption of the supervolcano, the modern Santorini archipelago was a single island. Scientists found that the eruption occurred almost instantly in geological terms - in just 100 years, the magma chamber under the island was filled with "fresh" molten rocks, which heated the local magma reserves, forced it to expand and literally tear the island apart.
An unusual "channel" in the northwestern part of the archipelago, which scientists discovered under water, told them about what happened to the island and the surrounding ocean during the eruption and in the first days after the disaster.
For example, the unusually deep walls of this channel and its structure indicated that the walls of the supervolcano on Santorini Island collapsed even before sea water burst into its exploding vent. This means that the tsunami, which was supposedly caused by the destruction of the island and the fall of its "debris" into the Aegean Sea, was born in a completely different way.
Scientists have no doubts that this tsunami really existed - traces of sea water and sand in the Minoan palaces of Crete clearly testify to its occurrence, where it could only get if the wave height at the coast exceeded ten meters.
Scientists found traces of this event in the center of the former volcano, and a few hundred meters from the shores of the archipelago.
As the analysis of rocks in the central part of the former island showed, at the first stages of the eruption part of Santorini exploded due to the fact that in the central part of the island there was a lagoon with seawater, which was the first “victim” of hot magma rising from the bowels of the Earth. This explosion led to the fact that the southern part of the former island was literally instantly flooded with powerful outpourings of magma, whose volume exceeded 16 cubic kilometers.
They eventually "slipped" into the Aegean Sea, covering the bottom off the southern shores of Santorini with a 60-meter layer of new rocks, and caused a powerful tsunami, the wave height of which at the former island exceeded 35 meters, decreasing to about ten meters already when they reached coast of Crete.
Almost immediately after this, the walls of the volcano collapsed, after which the sea broke through a "dam" of volcanic ash, which had formed at the northeastern channel at the bottom of the modern sea. Its waters began to fill the formed basin, completely filling it with water in just 40 minutes, if the depth of the channel was the same as today. Such a rapid course of such geological disasters, as scientists note, suggests that supervolcanoes, especially their island varieties, should be given special attention.
As you can see, scientists and historians assigned the death of the Minoan civilization to this (in the past) volcano. They say that it was destroyed by a flood, a tsunami from an eruption.
An irregularly shaped failure of the volcano cone.
It looks like a flooded quarry
Lime hills side by side with tuff hills
Central island
Santorini is part of the Cyclades group
List of minerals that are available on the islands:
But there are no sample analyzes for metals.
I propose to see the excavations and the remains of the structure of the Kroto-Minoan culture, which was destroyed by this volcano:
According to the first signs, the territory is quite far from the sea, respectively, higher than 10m above it
The fact that it was destroyed by a flood or mudflow is beyond doubt among archaeologists. But could a 10m high wave reach these buildings? If the volume of water was large, then its inertia could drag the mudflow here too.
Excavation of this complex from above
In the process of excavation
After. Already glued and reconstituted jugs
It is possible that the entire Mediterranean coast suffered from this cataclysm. And traces of destruction and flood along its entire coastline are the consequences of this event.
Sources:
Santorini is an island with a rich history. Researchers claim that people have inhabited this island since Neolithic times. Around 3200 BC the Cretans lived on the island. Their influence became evident during the excavations of Akrotiri - they found a village with an identical architecture of houses that was dug up in the Minoan palace in Crete.
At that time, due to its shape, the island was called Stronghyle or Strongili, which means "round" in Greek. But 1500 BC. everything has changed. The peaceful course of life of the ancient world was interrupted by the monstrous explosion of a volcano, which was located in the very center of the island. As a result, most of the island sank, forming the famous caldera (the largest in the world). The island has ceased to be round, and the small islets formed around the perimeter are now called Santorini, Aspronisi and Thirassia.
In 1956, excavations began at Akrotiri. A team of archaeologists led by Spyros Marinatos unearthed a well-preserved city that was completely buried under volcanic ash. The tidal wave from the eruption was so huge that it reached Crete (70 nautical miles, for a minute). Many scientists believe that the explosion caused the collapse of the Minoan civilization. And someone seriously thinks that it was there, in the unique caldera of Santorini, that Atlantis sank.
After the explosion, the Dorians settled on the island and named it Thera, after their king.
Christianity came to the island only in the 3rd century AD. An important monument of that period is the small, elegant church of Panagia. During the same period, the crusaders changed the name of the island to Santorini, building a small chapel of Agia Irene.
In the 18th century, the island began to develop actively. Industry began to grow. Santorini processed tomatoes, produced wine and textiles. At this time, life on the island was peaceful, except for the occupation by German troops during the Second World War. All this time, the volcano continued to erupt and created the small islands of Pelea and Nea Kameni.
Tourism began to develop actively in Santorini in the late 1970s. 1.5 million tourists come here every year to enjoy the island's unique atmosphere and famous sunsets.
The locals still call the island Thira, so don't be surprised if you see this name on the ferry schedules. Just remember Thira \u003d Santorini.
A little more about the volcano
It is known that the volcano in Santorini has exploded more than once. After such explosions, magma filled the caldera and a new explosion took place.
Caldera is a large crater formed after the explosion of a volcano.
Each time the caldera deepened. After one of these explosions, magma slowly filled the old caldera, and the round island Stronghyle turned out. Ultimately, the center of the island collapsed once again, forming the modern Santorini caldera, which is slowly filling up with cooling magma again.
At the moment, the area of \u200b\u200bthe caldera in Santorini is about 48 sq. km, and the depth is from 300 to 600 meters. The depth of water in the caldera is from 150 to 350 meters.
Those. in fact, Santorini is a volcano, perhaps the largest in the world and still active.
