Deadly 13th-Century Volcano Eruption: Mystery Solved?

National Geographic ^ | 9-30-2013 | Brian Handwerk

[C19fan]

Mary Shelley came up with Frankenstein during the 1816 summer. She, her lover, and Lord Byron were hanging together in Switzerland bummed about the horrible weather. So to kill time they started to tell ghost stories and Mary’s would become Frankenstein.

[Renfield]

I get the impression that there is a general consensus among literary scholars today, that Frankenstein was actually written by Percy Shelley, and simply published under his wife’s name.

[SunkenCiv]

Thanks Renfield.

Nearly 800 years ago, the blast that was recorded, and then forgotten, may also have created a "Pompeii of the Far East," ... pinpointed as Samalas volcano on Indonesia's Lombok Island. The research team... has now dated the event to between May and October of 1257.

A two list ping!

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[SunkenCiv]

Thanks Renfield.

[Bernard Marx]

the Long Valley Caldera.

Yep. And it's showing signs of waking up. It's one of the deadliest volcanic threats in the U.S.

[eartrumpet]

If your name was Percy, would you want it widely known?

[SunkenCiv]

Source of Mysterious Medieval Eruption Identified
http://news.sciencemag.org/earth/2013/10/source-mysterious-medieval-eruption-identified

[Mr. K]

Krakatoa must have been something...

people 20 miles away from the island were knocked over and went deaf from the blast

[blam]

" Even Thomas Jefferson noted the change in the weather. Then there are the news stories about the year (1816) without a Summer. "

Eighteen Hundred And Froze To Death (The Infamous 'Year Without Summer')

[PapaBear3625]

The cataclysm blasted 10 cubic miles (40 cubic kilometers) of debris up to 27 miles (43 kilometers) high into the sky, producing fallout that settled around the world.

The Thera explosion, around mid-2nd millenium BC, had a dense-rock-equivalent index of 14 cu miles, and ended Minoan civilization.

[SunkenCiv]

Scientists Reveal Source of Medieval Europe’s “Year Without Summer”
http://popular-archaeology.com/issue/09012013/article/scientists-reveal-source-of-medieval-year-without-summer

[SunkenCiv]

The Calliste keyword, newest to oldest:

• Ancient city of Iasos rises out of the ashes
• Fossil Insects Tweak Date of Deadly "Atlantis" Eruption
• Akrotiri, Santorini: the Minoan Pompeii -- part 6
• Akrotiri, Santorini: the Minoan Pompeii -- part 5
• Akrotiri, Santorini: the Minoan Pompeii -- part 4
• Akrotiri, Santorini: the Minoan Pompeii -- part 3
• Akrotiri, Santorini: the Minoan Pompeii -- part 2
• Which volcanoes impacted ancient climate? Sulphur tells the story
• Will Ancient Akrotiri Face Another Massive Eruption?
• Atlantis: The Evidence [ Thera, Crete, the usual modern myths ]
• Nebra sky disk discarded because of volcanic ash, scientists say By Aug 23, 2010, 15:49 GMT
• New analysis on problems between archaeology and pharaonic chronology, based on radiocarbon dating
• In the Mediterranean, Killer Tsunamis From an Ancient Eruption
• Akrotiri, Santorini: the Minoan Pompeii -- part 1 [of 6]
• A Storm in Egypt during the Reign of Ahmose [The Tempest Stele]
• Real Tsunami May Have Inspired Legend of Atlantis
• How Old Tree Rings And Ancient Wood Are Helping Rewrite History
• Greece Is The Word For Volcanoes (Thera)
• Santorini Eruption Much larger Than Originally Believed
• Explorer Ballard heads exploration of undersea volcano
• Director posits proof of biblical Exodus
• Unprecedented mathematical knowledge found in (Minoan) Bronze Age wall paintings.
• New Ice-Core Evidence Challenges the 1620s age for the Santorini (Minoan) Eruption
• 50 Ancient Tombs Uncovered (1400BC, Crete)
• SCIENTISTS REVISIT AN AEGEAN ERUPTION FAR WORSE THAN KRAKATOA
• Debate Erupts Anew: Did Thera's Explosion Doom Minoan Crete?

The Thera keyword, sorted:

• Which volcanoes impacted ancient climate? Sulphur tells the story
• Atlantis: The Evidence [ Thera, Crete, the usual modern myths ]
• Nebra sky disk discarded because of volcanic ash, scientists say By Aug 23, 2010, 15:49 GMT
• New analysis on problems between archaeology and pharaonic chronology, based on radiocarbon dating
• Biblical plagues really happened say scientists [ Thera, global warming, yada yada yada ]
• In the Mediterranean, Killer Tsunamis From an Ancient Eruption
• Akrotiri, Santorini: the Minoan Pompeii - part 1 [of 6]
• A Storm in Egypt during the Reign of Ahmose [The Tempest Stele]
• Real Tsunami May Have Inspired Legend of Atlantis
• 'Virtual archaeologist' reconnects fragments of an ancient civilization [ Thera ]
• Greek archaeological site reburied [ Akrotiri Santorini ]
• Did a Tsunami Wipe Out a Cradle of Western Civilization?
• Layers of mystery: Archaeologists look to the earth for Minoan fate
• Greece Is The Word For Volcanoes (Thera)
• The wave that destroyed Atlantis [Destroyed by a giant tsunami?]
• A Culture Shaped By Natural Disasters (Thera/Akrotiri)
• Viewer Beware: The Exodus Decoded [ Jacobovici response to BAR review]
• Santorini Eruption Much larger Than Originally Believed
• 'Exodus Decoded' seeks 'plausible explanation' for Biblical events
• 'Decoding' the Bible (Movie: Exodus Decoded)
• Documentary Sets New Date For Exodus
• Ancient Volcano, Seeds And Treerings, Suggest Rewriting Late Bronze Age Mediterranean History (More)
• Olive branch solves a Bronze Age mystery
• Explorer Ballard heads exploration of undersea volcano
• ARCHAEOLOGY: New Carbon Dates Support Revised History of Ancient Mediterranean
• Director posits proof of biblical Exodus
• Unprecedented mathematical knowledge found in (Minoan) Bronze Age wall paintings.
• Ireland Is Lost Island of Atlantis, Says Scientist
• New Ice-Core Evidence Challenges the 1620s age for the Santorini (Minoan) Eruption
• Alaska Volcano West of Anchorage Stirs After 12-Year Slumber
• 50 Ancient Tombs Uncovered (1400BC, Crete)
• Memory in Ruins [Biblical Archaeology]
• Will We Ever Find Atlantis?
• SCIENTISTS REVISIT AN AEGEAN ERUPTION FAR WORSE THAN KRAKATOA
• Debate Erupts Anew: Did Thera's Explosion Doom Minoan Crete?
• Signs Of An Eruption
• Biblical Plagues and Parting of Red Sea caused by Volcano
• Free Republic "Bump List" Register

[gleeaikin]

Toba was about 74,000 years ago and left a caldera 18 by 65 miles wide. By comparison, Pinatubo left one 3 miles wide. The most recent Yellowstone caldera is at least 20 by 30 miles. The most recent Yellowstone event was around 640,000 years ago. I wonder if that and the Long Valley Caldera were the precipitaters of two of our ice ages. I know that there was a significant drop in temperatures after Toba, which had already begun about 125,000 years ago. Wonder what caused that. Also thought about this latest volcanic find being the start of the little ice age.

[RayChuang88]

One thing we know was that after every major eruption on Earth in the last 45 years, California during the winter experiences way higher than normal rains. This was the case after Pinatubo erupted in 1991, and after two major volcanic eruptions in Iceland in 2010 and 2011. In Russia’s Kamchatka Peninsula and in the home islands of Japan, there are a large number of very active volcanoes that could erupt in a major way and could change the climate of Earth for one year after the volcano erupts.