Capturing a new episode of unrest at Santorini volcano, Greece
Lead Research Organisation:
University of Oxford
Department Name: Earth Sciences
Abstract
Santorini is a major volcano in the Aegean sea (Greece), which is best known for a major eruption (the Minoan eruption) that occurred about 3,600 years ago, and has been implicated in major environmental and political impacts across the eastern Mediterranean.
Since that eruption, which formed a large caldera, now flooded by the sea, volcanic activity at Santorini has been restricted to a small region in the middle of the caldera. Over the past 500 years, six moderate eruptions have taken place, forming the young islands of Nea and Palea Kameni. These eruptions have usually happened with little warning - a few very small earthquakes; some movements of the islands (up and down), and some changes in the seawater around the many hotsprings in the area. Each of these eruptions has involved the slow squeezing out of lava, with a few more dramatic explosions and the ejection of blocks of lava, ash and noxious gases. The last, and smallest, of these eruptions took place in 1950.
Since 1950, Santorini has been quiescent - with very few earthqaukes, and very little gas emission. Recently, during fieldwork, we measured a large increase in gas emission rates from near the youngest volcanic vent. We have also now seen some rapid movements of the main island of Santorini (measured by GPS), and of New Kameni (measure by satellite): these show that the islands are being lifted up by a few centimetres per month. There has also been a major swarm of very small earthquakes, some of which have been large enough to be felt by the residents of the islands.
We think that all of this evidence shows that Santorini has begun a significant phase of 'unrest'. The pattern of unrest that we have seen is similar to the signals reported that happen before some of the historical eruptions, amd we propose an intensive field campaign to measure the ground deformation and gas emissions, associated with the inflation of this major caldera volcano.
Because there have been very few opportunities for scientists to monitor the behaviour of caldera volcanoes during periods of unrest, we really don't yet know how to distinguish between background activity, and activity which might happen before an eruption, at least until just a very short time before an eruption happens. For this reason, we wish to use this rare opportunity to measure the changes with a shallow disturbance at a quiescent but dangerous volcano.
Since that eruption, which formed a large caldera, now flooded by the sea, volcanic activity at Santorini has been restricted to a small region in the middle of the caldera. Over the past 500 years, six moderate eruptions have taken place, forming the young islands of Nea and Palea Kameni. These eruptions have usually happened with little warning - a few very small earthquakes; some movements of the islands (up and down), and some changes in the seawater around the many hotsprings in the area. Each of these eruptions has involved the slow squeezing out of lava, with a few more dramatic explosions and the ejection of blocks of lava, ash and noxious gases. The last, and smallest, of these eruptions took place in 1950.
Since 1950, Santorini has been quiescent - with very few earthqaukes, and very little gas emission. Recently, during fieldwork, we measured a large increase in gas emission rates from near the youngest volcanic vent. We have also now seen some rapid movements of the main island of Santorini (measured by GPS), and of New Kameni (measure by satellite): these show that the islands are being lifted up by a few centimetres per month. There has also been a major swarm of very small earthquakes, some of which have been large enough to be felt by the residents of the islands.
We think that all of this evidence shows that Santorini has begun a significant phase of 'unrest'. The pattern of unrest that we have seen is similar to the signals reported that happen before some of the historical eruptions, amd we propose an intensive field campaign to measure the ground deformation and gas emissions, associated with the inflation of this major caldera volcano.
Because there have been very few opportunities for scientists to monitor the behaviour of caldera volcanoes during periods of unrest, we really don't yet know how to distinguish between background activity, and activity which might happen before an eruption, at least until just a very short time before an eruption happens. For this reason, we wish to use this rare opportunity to measure the changes with a shallow disturbance at a quiescent but dangerous volcano.
Planned Impact
This research will be of benefit to anyone concerned with hazard assessment and monitoring of volcanoes; in particular restless or quiescent calderas.
Beneficiaries:
In Greece: the scientific agencies and universities involved in monitoring of Santorini and other young volcanoes, including IGME, the Hellenic Centre for Marine Research and the Institute for the Monitoring of Santorini Volcano, ISMOSAV.
On Santorini: through contacts with IGME, HCMR and ISMOSAV, our work will benefit the decision makers and tourist agencies of the islands of Santorini, by informing them of the 'intra-eruptive' behaviour of the volcano, and through a better understanding of the features that can happen during the background activity of a restless volcano.
Elsewhere: volcano observatories with responsibility for monitoring large restless volcanic systems, including USGS, USA (Yellowstone, Long Valley), INGV, Italy (Campi Flegrei), and others around the world.
Beneficiaries:
In Greece: the scientific agencies and universities involved in monitoring of Santorini and other young volcanoes, including IGME, the Hellenic Centre for Marine Research and the Institute for the Monitoring of Santorini Volcano, ISMOSAV.
On Santorini: through contacts with IGME, HCMR and ISMOSAV, our work will benefit the decision makers and tourist agencies of the islands of Santorini, by informing them of the 'intra-eruptive' behaviour of the volcano, and through a better understanding of the features that can happen during the background activity of a restless volcano.
Elsewhere: volcano observatories with responsibility for monitoring large restless volcanic systems, including USGS, USA (Yellowstone, Long Valley), INGV, Italy (Campi Flegrei), and others around the world.
Publications
Druitt T
(2019)
Santorini Volcano and its Plumbing System
in Elements
Nomikou P
(2016)
Post-eruptive flooding of Santorini caldera and implications for tsunami generation.
in Nature communications
Nomikou P
(2014)
The emergence and growth of a submarine volcano: The Kameni islands, Santorini (Greece)
in GeoResJ
Parks M
(2015)
From quiescence to unrest: 20 years of satellite geodetic measurements at Santorini volcano, Greece
in Journal of Geophysical Research: Solid Earth
Parks M
(2012)
Evolution of Santorini Volcano dominated by episodic and rapid fluxes of melt from depth
in Nature Geoscience
Parks M
(2013)
Distinguishing contributions to diffuse CO2 emissions in volcanic areas from magmatic degassing and thermal decarbonation using soil gas 222Rn-d13C systematics: Application to Santorini volcano, Greece
in Earth and Planetary Science Letters
Pyle
(2017)
Volcanoes: Encounters through the Ages
Ratner J
(2019)
Crowd-sourcing structure-from- motion data for terrain modelling in a real-world disaster scenario: A proof of concept
in Progress in Physical Geography: Earth and Environment
Description | In early 2011, Santorini volcano entered its first phase of unrest since the last eruption in 1950. We obtained urgency funding from NERC, supplemented later by a flight campaign from the NERC-ARSF and loan of geophysical and spectroscopic instruments from the NERC-GEF and NERC-FSF equipment pools, and completed a rapid-response campaign to measure the response of the volcano to this event. We were able to measure the deformation field across Santorini using satellite radar observations, coupled with data from continuous GPS instruments on the island. A re-survey of the island's network of triangulation pillars confirmed that this was the first major episode of unrest on the island in at least 60 years. Analysis and interpretation of the deformation field across Santorini place tight constraints on the depth and volume change of the presumed magma-reservoir beneath the island, and provides new insight into the processes by which magma accumulates under volcanoes in periods of unrest. |
Exploitation Route | The story generated a significant amount of public interest, as Santorini is a very well known tourist destination. We provided advice as the events unfurled to authorities in both Greece and the UK. |
Sectors | Education Environment Transport |
URL | http://santorini.earth.ox.ac.uk |
Description | We shared our findings with the Greek special commission that were charged with the oversight of the episode of unrest on Santorini. In the end, the phase of unrest ended, and no actions were needed. |
First Year Of Impact | 2012 |
Sector | Education,Environment |
Impact Types | Cultural Policy & public services |
Title | Santorini LiDAR and remote sensing data |
Description | LiDAR, air photo and related airborne remote sensing data from aerial surveys of Santorini in 2004 and 2012 |
Type Of Material | Database/Collection of data |
Year Produced | 2006 |
Provided To Others? | Yes |
Impact | We have made the datasets freely available, via figshare |
URL | http://volcanicdegassing.wordpress.com/datasets/ |
Description | Costing the Earth |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A broadcast e.g. TV/radio/film/podcast (other than news/press) |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | National |
Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
Results and Impact | Interviewed as part of Lava: A Dangerous Game |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2015 |
URL | http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b055g73y |
Description | George and the Blue Moon |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A magazine, newsletter or online publication |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Schools |
Results and Impact | I wrote a science essay in a children's book |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2016 |
URL | https://www.penguin.co.uk/puffin/books/1097513/george-and-the-blue-moon/ |
Description | Life Scientific |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A broadcast e.g. TV/radio/film/podcast (other than news/press) |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
Results and Impact | 30 min programme on Radio 4's Life Scientific broadcast at 9am and via podcast |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2017 |
URL | http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b08t0d3w |
Description | Oxford Science Blog on impacts of volcanic gases |
Form Of Engagement Activity | Engagement focused website, blog or social media channel |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
Results and Impact | Wrote a blog about fieldwork |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2018 |
URL | http://www.ox.ac.uk/news/science-blog/living-volcanic-gases-0 |
Description | Public engagement: animation of a subduction zone volcano |
Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
Results and Impact | We developed and launched an animation of a subduction zone volcano on YouTube, as part of a wider programme of engagement. This video highlights the contribution of our research work in this area, we also used the video as a platform for developing educational resources targeted to specific Key Stages of the National Curriculum for use in schools. The YouTube animation received 1000 views in the first 48 hours after launch, and at the time of writing has had over 7000 views. It has also been made freely available as a teaching resource on the TES website, which also hosts some other resources we have developed. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2012,2013,2014 |
URL | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ms2ZhSZ4t2o |
Description | Santorini volcano project - wider dissemination |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A magazine, newsletter or online publication |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
Results and Impact | The Santorini project attracted a good deal of media attention when we published the major paper outlining our findings. To facilitate this, we developed a bi-lingual (Greek and English) website for the project (http://santorini.earth.ox.ac.uk), and wrote a blog post to explain the context (https://volcanicdegassing.wordpress.com/2012/09/13/santorini/). We also wrote or contributed to news articles and reports in newsletters (e.g. the newsletter of the Geological Remote Sensing group of the Geological Society, and a news item in Planet Earth magazine). Subsequently, we converted some of the aerial photographs from an Airborne Remote Sensing Campaign in May 2012 into a short 'overflight' video, which we uploaded onto You Tube (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R_UJNLtmp5A), along with some short timelapse video footage from static cameras that we had located in the field, in case of any change in the behaviour of the system (there wasn't!). Increased visibility to media, schools, researchers interested in volcanoes and volcanic activity. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2012,2013,2014 |
URL | http://santorini.earth.ox.ac.uk |
Description | School STEMFEST |
Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | Local |
Primary Audience | Schools |
Results and Impact | Workshop and talks for Year 10 students to encourage participation in STEM to A-level and beyond |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2018 |
Description | The Forum |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A broadcast e.g. TV/radio/film/podcast (other than news/press) |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
Results and Impact | Panel discussion The Unpredictable Planet: Understanding Volcanoes and Earthquakes on BBC World Service |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2016 |
URL | http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p041svq3 |
Description | The Infinite Monkey Cage |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A broadcast e.g. TV/radio/film/podcast (other than news/press) |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
Results and Impact | Part of a panel on The Infinite Monkey Cage with Brian Cox, Robin Ince, comedian Jo Brand and Clive Oppenheimer on BBC Radio 4. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2018 |
URL | http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b09r47j1 |
Description | Volcanoes - an exhibition |
Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
Results and Impact | I curated a public exhibition to run at Oxford's Weston Library from 10 February 2017 - 21 May 2017. This event attracted a lot of media coverage (print, radio and television), and parallel activities, ranging from workshops to public talks. During the exhibition over 50,000 people visited. Over 100 articles about the exhibition were published in the press, with a notional reach of 200 million potential readers. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2017 |
URL | http://www.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/whatson/whats-on/upcoming-events/2017/feb/volcanoes |