NEW YORK, BRONX (ORDO News) — A team of scientists conducting research on the Columbo volcano, located in the Aegean Sea, presented interesting results that explain the mysteries of a powerful explosion that occurred in 1650, as well as the devastating tsunami that followed.
These events left traces in history and caused serious destruction on the neighboring islands of Santorini, Ios and Sikinos.
The study, published in the journal Nature Communications, sheds light on the origin of the tsunami that swept through the southern coast of Ios, rising up to 20 meters, and also inundated Sikinos, 240 meters above sea level.
The district of Perissa and Kamari on Santorini’s east coast also faced devastation as floods covered up to two square kilometers of land.
Scientists have created a three-dimensional image of the underwater crater of the Columbo volcano, determining its diameter to be 2.5 kilometers and a depth of 500 meters. These characteristics indicate that the Columbo volcano is capable of causing a truly powerful eruption.
Additional studies of seismic activity also confirmed deformation of one side of the volcano, which was a key aspect in understanding the origin of the tsunami.
Scientists compared different mechanisms that could cause such events and concluded that the tsunami was the result of a combination of a landslide and a subsequent volcanic eruption.
Without the landslide, the tsunami caused by the explosion alone would have reached a height of only six meters. The study also highlighted that pressure rose sharply in the volcano’s magma chamber, which contained a lot of gas, during the weeks of the eruption.
However, when one of the volcano’s flanks collapsed, the sudden drop in pressure allowed gas in the magma system to expand, causing a huge explosion that created a devastating tsunami.
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News agencies contributed to this report, edited and published by ORDO News editors.
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