Abstract
It is generally accepted that the vent of the 3.6 ka Minoan eruption was situated in the water-filled Santorini caldera prior to the Minoan eruption. One should therefore expect to find huge quantities of pumice and ash on the inner side of the caldera walls, but there is only a relatively small amount preserved. An unexpected discovery of remnants of a synchronous pumice mantle of the Minoan eruption appears to solve this enigma. A lengthy period of erosion and the intensive quarrying of pumice for the construction of the Suez Canal (1859 to 1869) led to the removal of an enormous amount of material and information for generations of geologists. The synchronous pumice mantle covered the whole caldera wall from rim to sea level. Archaeological finds under the pumice mantle show that the caldera wall was accessible and inhabited in the Bronze Age. Furthermore, this discovery documents that only one Minoan eruption took place and that the so-called “Lower pumice” does not exist on Santorini.
Highlights
The 3.6 ka Minoan eruption was one of the strongest experienced by humankind
It is generally accepted that the vent of the 3.6 ka Minoan eruption was situated in the water-filled Santorini caldera prior to the Minoan eruption
The discovery of a synchronous pumice mantle on the caldera wall shows that the Minoan eruption deposited considerable amounts of pumice on the inner side of the Santorini caldera
Summary
The 3.6 ka Minoan eruption was one of the strongest experienced by humankind. On Santorini it buried a flourishing culture under a thick mantle of pumice and ash, creating a “prehistoric Pompeii” as it was called by Fouqué [1]. The synchronous ash and pumice mantle provides a valuable tool for the chronology since all objects that are in direct and undisturbed contact with this volcanic tephra fan have the same maximum age. This pumice mantle covered the entire volcanic edifice on Santorini. Pumice that had been deposited by the Minoan eruption on the inner side of the Santorini caldera was the first to be removed by this quarrying This pumice removal led to the loss of an enormous amount of geological and archaeological information—a loss that led to wrong conclusions being made. Fouqué [7] [8] considered that a volcano with a height of about 450 m had existed in the central part of Santorini prior to the Minoan eruption
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