In the late Bronze Age, about 1500 to 1600 BC, a huge explosive
eruption occurred on the Greek island of Santorini in the Eastern
Mediterranean Sea. The eruption buried the ancient town of Akrotiri
and led to collapse of the island’s central part to form
a submarine caldera. The majority of erupted material was in the
form of pyroclastic flows, that advanced quickly into the ocean
around the island. Most of the volcanic deposits from this eruption
are therefore now on the sea floor around Santorini and have yet
to be studied in detail.
In
April to June 2006 a team of oceanographers from the United States
and Greece will conduct studies of the sea floor around Santorini
and inside its flooded caldera. This is a collaborative effort
between the Graduate School of Oceanography of the University
of Rhode Island in Narragansett, and the Institute of Oceanography
of the Hellenic Centre for Marine Research in Athens. The goals
of this expedition are to determine the distribution and thickness
of the submarine pyroclastic deposits from the eruption, and to
contribute to an understanding of the evolution of this important
volcano. Two separate cruises will be launched to survey, study
and sample the sea floor, involving the use of two research vessels,
a remotely operated vehicle (ROV) and a variety of oceanographic
research tools:
Cruise
-1: The nature and distribution of the volcanic sediment
layers from the Bronze Age eruption will be studied during a cruise
of the Greek vessel R/V Aegaeo from April 26 to May 8th, 2006.
The thickness of the layers will be determined using an air-gun
system.
Cruise-2:
The surface morphology of the flanks and caldera floor of Santorini
volcano, and Kolumbo volcano to the north will be determined during
a cruise of R/V Endeavour from May 30th to June 9th, using a side-scan
system. |
