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late beneath the Mediterranean Davy Jones circling the Greek island of Santorini , scientists have discovered the remnants of one of themost explosive volcanic eruptionsEurope has ever seen .
A elephantine stratum of pumice stone and ash , which is up to 500 feet ( 150 meter ) thick , revealed that around half a million age ago , the Santorinivolcanoerupted so explosively it was 15 time more violent than theHunga Tonga - Hunga Ha’apai eruptionof 2022 . The Tonga extravasation shattered several records , trip thefastest atmospheric waves ever seenand thefirst known mega - tsunami since antiquity .
An illustration of the islands of the Greek archipelago of Santorini with the submarine volcano erupting.
" We know that this volcano ’s had many big , volatile eruptions — sort ofKrakatoastyle , " work lead authorTim Druitt , a professor of volcanology at the University of Clermont Auvergne in France , tell apart Live Science . But the newly discovered depositary charge to a cataclysmal blast " that we did n’t even know had existed . "
Extensive ground - base inquiry has previously paint a relatively elaborate picture of past volcanism across the Hellenic Island Arc — a cosmic string of volcanic islands stretching from Greece to Turkey along a curved line where the African architectonic plate plunges beneath Europe . For instance , geologist knew that Santorini go forth from the ocean about 400,000 years ago , as successive eruptions piled volcanic debris onto the seafloor . The present - twenty-four hours Santorini archipelago form during the previous Bronze Age ( 1600 to 1200 B.C. ) , when the explosive Minoan bam blasted the top off what was then one island . A magma chamber beneath the Kameni island , in the heart and soul of the Santorini caldera , still flow the vent today .
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The JOIDES Resolution north of Santorini volcano (in the distance). The ship is a research deep-drilling vessel 460 feet (140 m) long and 200 feet (60 m) high.
But there ’s only so much scientists can learn on dry land , Druitt say , because wearing away from rain and hint wipe aside some geological grounds . " That ’s why we moved to the nautical land , because in the ocean it ’s calmer , " he say .
To find out more about the part ’s volcanic bodily function , Druitt and his fellow drilled into marine sediments around Santorini in late 2022 and early 2023 . With help from theInternational Ocean Discovery Program , the researchers extracted deposit nitty-gritty from up to 3,000 feet ( 900 m ) below the seafloor at 12 drilling sites .
The team could then take the different layer of sediment " like a volume , " Druitt said .
Scientists examine core sections from the expedition. Each recovered core is 31 feet (9.5 m) long and is cut into sections 4.9 feet (1.5 m) long for handling. The sections are then sliced in half along their length for detailed description and collection of samples for further laboratory analysis.
" What you see is volcanic stratum from all the eruption that we knew on land , " he enounce . " But then we go down to deeper levels before the volcano became emerging , when it was still submarine . "
It ’s in these deep levels that investigator discover the remnants of a 520,000 - yr - old eruption that was " great than anything else Santorini ’s produce and probably one of the two biggest eruptions that the whole Hellenic volcanic arc has ever had , " Druitt say .
The eruption squirt at least 21.6 cubic miles ( 90 cubic kilometers ) of volcanic rock music and ash , harmonise to the study , published Jan. 15 in the journalCommunications Earth & Environment . The Tonga eruption of 2022 , by comparison , produced 1.4 three-dimensional miles ( 6 cubic km ) of rubble .
" It ’s a hatful big — 15 times bigger — there , in the heart of Europe , " Druitt said .
— Supervolcano ' megabeds ' discovered at bottom of ocean point to ruinous outcome in Europe every 10,000 to 15,000 geezerhood
— Tonga volcano blast was fuel by 2 merging Sir William Chambers that are still brimming with magma
— Deadly horde of earthquakes in Japan triggered by magma moving through extinct volcano
The discovery is cock-a-hoop because it shows that the Hellenic volcanic electric discharge is capable of produce tremendous underwater eruptions . " It give us an case to study in detail of a very large variation of Hunga - Tonga , " Druitt state .
Santorini credibly wo n’t see an eruption on this scale of measurement for another several hundred thousand years , Druitt said . The vent last extravasate in 1950 , emitting lava that did n’t pose a significant threat .
However , the magma bedroom " will continue to feed eruption of lava and low volatile eruptions for the coming decades and peradventure even centuries , " Druitt said .
