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The Minoan eruption of Santorini in Greece dated to 1645 BC?

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Abstract

The eruption on Santorini (Thera: 36.40° N, 25.40° E) in the Aegean Sea during Late Minoan time is considered the most violent volcanic event in the Mediterranean in the second millennium BC. The eruption buried a number of developing Bronze Age settlements on the island (one of which is presently being excavated at the village Akrotiri1) and spread huge amounts of tephra over the eastern Mediterranean and adjacent lands2–7. This event is therefore an important time marker both for archaeologists and Earth scientists. A dating of the eruption has previously been attempted by archaeological inference1,8 and by radiocarbon dating, but the two methods have tended to give ages that deviate by up to 150 years. Here we present a new ice-core dating of the eruption, which suggests an age of 1645 BC based on variations in acid fallout in the annual ice layers in a core drilled at the site Dye 3 (65.18° N, 43.49° W) in South Greenland.

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References

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Geophysical Institute, University of Copenhagen, Haraldsgade 6, DK-2200, Copenhagen N, Denmark

    C. U. Hammer & H. B. Clausen

  2. Geological Institute, Aarhus University, C. F. Møllersalle 120, DK-8000, Aarhus C, Denmark

    W. L. Friedrich

  3. Radiocarbon Dating Laboratory, National Museum, Ny Vestergade 10, DK-1471, Copenhagen K, Denmark

    H. Tauber

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  1. C. U. Hammer
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  2. H. B. Clausen
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  4. H. Tauber
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Hammer, C., Clausen, H., Friedrich, W. et al. The Minoan eruption of Santorini in Greece dated to 1645 BC?. Nature 328, 517–519 (1987). https://doi.org/10.1038/328517a0

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