Imagining Atlantis by Richard Ellis

Author:Richard Ellis
Language: eng
Format: mobi
ISBN: 9780307426321
Publisher: Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group
Published: 2011-11-16T10:00:00+00:00

SHOWERS OF ASH rain down on the lagoon of Santorini in 1870 as the volcano begins to rumble. (illustration credit 6.5)

According to Bond and Sparks, “it is the only active volcano in the eastern Mediterranean to have been copiously active in historic times.” In addition to its copious activity, all the eruptions of Thera have been classified as “catastrophic” for the inhabitants of the island, with coarse tephra, lapilli, bombs, and blocks being ejected to a distance of two miles from the volcano, and an ashfall that covers the land and the sea. The volcano produces abundant gas, and the rotten-egg smell of hydrogen sulfide is often present. In the Aegean, iron oxides and sulfur can turn the water red and poison marine life, and on land they turn white walls green or rusty red. Tsunamis have followed all historical eruptions of Santorini, causing great damage along the coasts. The gray-white ash, known locally as pozzolana, is characteristic of the eruptions of Santorini, and forms the upper stratum of most of the islands. It is used in the manufacture of hydraulic (water-resistant) cement, which was used extensively in the construction of the Suez Canal from 1859 to 1869. Even today, pozzolana is an important element in the island’s economy, with annual exports of 2 million tons.

Here is a description of the 1956 eruption by Haroun Tazieff, from his 1964 When the Earth Trembles:

July 9, 1956, in the Cyclades, two shocks of magnitude 7.7 and 7.2, with thirteen minutes between them. The worst damage occurred on the island of Santorin, where the famous volcano grew active again, shooting up incandescent dust and clouds of ash. The earthquake was not volcanic, but tectonic, however, and it was followed by a tsunami which struck the Cyclades, reaching a height of over 80 feet on the shores of Amorgos and Astypalaea, 33 feet at Phaelgandros, 13 at Patmos, and about 6 on the northeast shore of Crete. Thirty boats were sunk; 53 dead, 100 hurt, 500 houses ruined, 1,500 seriously damaged.

This was the most recent event, but on August 11, 1925, there was an eruption of the Kameni Islands which was announced by an explosion that produced a “high, gray, cauliflower column, accompanied by much noise and the ejection of stones, lapilli, and ash—greatly terrifying the inhabitants of Thera” (Henry S. Washington was present on the site from September 13 to 20, and detailed his observations and findings in a paper submitted to the Geological Society of America, dated June 30, 1926). Outpouring lava soon joined the islets of Nea and Mikra Kameni, and by August 23, a lava dome had formed that was 250 feet high, without a crater. Blue, green, yellow, and red flames were seen at the summit, and a succession of violent explosions continued until October 27. The noise of the explosions was deafening, wrote Washington; “at a distance of 500 meters we had to shout to be heard.” Almost all of the eruptions were accompanied by the violent ejection

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