Minoan eruption
Major volcanic eruption around 1600 BCE / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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The Minoan eruption was a catastrophic volcanic eruption that devastated the Aegean island of Thera (also called Santorini) circa 1600 BCE.[2][3] It destroyed the Minoan settlement at Akrotiri, as well as communities and agricultural areas on nearby islands and the coast of Crete with subsequent earthquakes and paleotsunamis.[4] With a Volcanic Explosivity Index (VEI) of between 6 and 7, it resulted in the ejection of approximately 28–41 km3 (6.7–9.8 cu mi) of dense-rock equivalent (DRE),[5][1] the eruption was one of the largest volcanic events in human history.[6][7][8] Since tephra from the Minoan eruption serves as a marker horizon in nearly all archaeological sites in the Eastern Mediterranean,[9] its precise date is of high importance and has been fiercely debated among archaeologists and volcanologists for decades,[10][11] without coming to a definite conclusion.
Minoan eruption of Thera | |
---|---|
Volcano | Thera |
Date | c. 1600 BCE (see below) |
Type | Ultra Plinian |
Location | Santorini, Cyclades, Aegean Sea 36°24′36″N 25°24′00″E |
VEI | 6[1] |
Impact | Devastated the Minoan settlements of Akrotiri, the island of Thera, communities and agricultural areas on nearby islands, and the coast of Crete with related earthquakes and tsunamis. |
Although there are no clear ancient records of the eruption, its plume and volcanic lightning may have been described in the Egyptian Tempest Stele.[12] The Chinese Bamboo Annals reported unusual yellow skies and summer frost at the beginning of the Shang dynasty, which may have been a consequence of volcanic winter (similar to 1816, the Year Without a Summer, after the 1815 eruption of Mount Tambora).[13]