Greece’s 3,000 islands and 15,000 kilometers (9,300 miles) of coastline highlight this image acquired on November 11, 2005. The rich texture produced by the topographic variation in this image reveal that it is the most mountainous of all the European countries, comprising about 80% of the country’s land surface. These mountains are the product of plate tectonics: the Eurasian plate, stretching from the Eastern portion of Siberia into the middle of the Atlantic Ocean, is converging with the African plate.
The region is also known for its volcanic activity; the so-called Hellenic Arc of islands, which stretch from the eastern of Greece to western Turkey, is the result of subduction of the African plate under a portion of the Eurasian plate. This portion, or microplate, is called the Aegan plate is actually moving in a different direction than the rest of the Eurasia plate because it is being pushed by the Turkish microplate as well as the African plate.
The most famous of these volcanoes is Santorini, which last erupted in 1950. It erupted in 1600 B.C., obliterating the city of Akroteri, an event which may have spawned the legend of city sinking under the ocean – Atlantis.
Date Acquired: 11/11/2005
Resolutions: 1km (533.1 KB)
500m (1.9 MB)
250m (5 MB)
Bands Used: 1, 4, 3
Credit: Jeff Schmaltz
MODIS Land Rapid Response Team,
Now you can see me typing this post!:jmp:
Well the cities was sunk by this ancient tsunami rised by the volcano's eruption were FESTOS AND KNOSOS the main historical cities of MINOAN civilization,the first known greek civilization who inspired the rest cities!
Location: 36.4N, 25.4E
Elevation: 1,850 feet (564 m)
For more information on Santorini, Check out Greeka.com!
The eruption of Santorini in Greece in 1,650 B.C. was one of the largest (VEI=6) in the last 10,000 years. About 7 cubic miles (30 cubic km) of rhyodacite magma was erupted. The plinian column during the initial phase of the eruption was about 23 miles (36 km) high. The removal of such a large volume of magma caused the volcano to collapse, producing a c aldera. Ash fell over a large area in the eastern Mediterranean and Turkey. The eruption probably caused the end of the Minoan civilization on the island of Crete.
Santorini is complex of overlapping shield volcanoes. Basalt and andesite lava flows that make the shield are exposed in the cliff below the town of Phira. Some of t he cliff is thought to be a caldera wall associated with an eruption 21,000 year ago. Druitt and Francaviglia (1992) found evidence of at least 12 large explosive eruptions in the last 200,000 years at Santorin i. The white layer at the top is the Minoan tephra from the 1,650 B.C. eruption. Photography copyrighted by Robert Decker.
Exposure of about 150 feet (50 m) of Minoan tephra. The tephra consists of pumice, pyroclastic surge, and pyroclastic flow deposits. Photography copyrighted by Ro bert Decker.
Akroteri, a Minoan city on the south part of Thera, is being excavated. About 3-6 feet (1-2 m) of ash fell on the city which had a population of about 30,000. The residents appear to have been successfully evacuated prior to the eruption. No bodies hav e been found in the ash like those at Vesuvius. Archeologists also reported that movable objects had been taken from the city. Photography copyrighted by Robert Decker.
The Kameni Islands formed after the caldera. Eleven eruptions since 197 B.C. have made the two islands. The most recent eruption at Santorini was in 1950 on Nea Kameni, the northern island. The eruption was phreatic and lasted less than a month. It co nstructed a dome and produced lava flows. Photography copyrighted by Robert Decker.
For a description of the tectonics of the Hellenic arc and the Aegean Sea visit the volcanic island of Nisyros.
Click here, if you are wondering if the eruption of Santorini was related to the lost city of Atlantis.
Click here, for a Space Shuttle photo of Thera.
Sources of Information:
Decker, R., and Decker, B., 1989, Volcanoes: W.H. Freeman, New York, 285 p.
Doumas, C.G., 1983, Thera: Pompeii of the ancient Aegean: London, Thames&Hudson, 168 p.
Druitt, T.H., and Francaviglia, V., 1992, Caldera formation on Santorini and the physiography of the islands in the late Bronze Age: Bulletin of Volcanology, v.54, p. 484-493.
Druitt, T.H., Mellors, R.A., Plye, D.M., and Sparks, R.S.J., 1989, Explosive volcanism on Santorini, Greece: Geology Magazine, v. 126, p. 95-126.
Georgalas, G.C., 1962, Greece. Catalogue of the Active Volcanoes of the World including solfatara fields. 12, 40 p.
Sigurdsson, H., Carey, S., and Devine, J.D., 1990, Assessment of mass, dynamics, and environmental effects of the Minoan eruption of Santorini Volcano, in Hardy, D., (ed.), Thera and the Aegean world III, v. 2, London, Thera Foundation, p. 89-99.
Simkin, T., and Siebert, L., 1994, Volcanoes of the World: Geoscience Press, Tucson, Arizona, 349 p.
Sullivan, D.G., 1988, The discovery of Santorini Minoan tephra in western Turkey: Nature, v. 333, p. 552-554.
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