Abstract
Dispersal of volcanic ash from the violent Bronze Age (Minoan) eruption of the Santorini volcano in the southern Aegean has been the subject of much research1–6. A sediment core taken from a small mountain lake in western Turkey contains a layer of tephra from the Minoan eruption. The Santorini origin is established by refractive index, major glass chemistry, and stratigraphic position. The lake is located north of the recognized dispersal area for the tephra. This deposit provides evidence for dispersal of the Minoan tephra well to the northeast of Santorini, and implies that the west coast of Asia Minor must have experienced heavy tephra fallout from the Bronze Age eruption. The Minoan tephra has not previously been identified from sites in Turkey.
This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution
Access options
Subscribe to this journal
Receive 51 print issues and online access
$199.00 per year
only $3.90 per issue
Buy this article
- Purchase on Springer Link
- Instant access to full article PDF
Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Ninkovich, D. & Heezen, B. C. Colston Res. Papers 17, 413–452 (1965).
Watkins, N. D. et al. Nature 271, 122–126 (1978).
Keller, J., Ryan, W. B. F., Ninkovich, D. & Altherr, R. Geol. Soc. Am. Bull. 89, 591–604 (1978).
McCoy, F. W. in Thera and the Aegean World II (ed. Doumas, C.) 57–78 (Aegean World, London, 1980).
Keller, J. in Thera and the Aegean World II (ed. Doumas, C.) 49–56 (Aegean World, London, 1980).
Vinci, A. Mar. Geol. 64, 143–155 (1985).
McCoy, F. Jr in Tephra Studies (eds Sparks, R. S. J. & Self, S.) 245–254 (Reidel, Dordrecht, 1981).
Ninkovich, D. & Ruddiman, W. Proc. X. INQUA Congress (International Quaternary Assoc., 1977).
Ninkovich, D., Shackelton, N. J., Abdel-Monem, A. A., Obradovich, J. D. & Izett, G. Nature 276, 574–577 (1978).
Pearson, G. W. & Stuiver, M. Radiocarbon 28, 839–862 (1986).
Warren, P. Nature 308, 492–493 (1984).
Betancourt, P. P. Archaeometry 29, 45–59 (1987).
LaMarche, V. C. & Hirschboeck, K. K. Nature 307, 121–126 (1984).
Hammer, C. U., Clausen, H. B., Friedrich, W. L. & Tauber, H. Nature 328, 517–519 (1987).
Baillie, M. G. L. & Munro, M. A. R. Nature 332, 344–346 (1988).
Federman, A. N. & Carey, S. N. Quat. Res. 13, 160–171 (1980).
Keller, J. in Tephra Studies (eds Sparks. R. S. J. & Self, S.) 227–244 (Reidel, Dordrecht, 1981).
Marinatos, S. Antiquity 13, 425–439 (1939).
Mellis, O. Deep-Sea Res. 2, 89–92 (1954).
Doumas, C. & Papazoglou, L. Nature 287, 322–324 (1984).
Lacombe, H., & Tchernia, P. in The Mediterranean Sea (ed. Stanley, D. J.) 25–36 (Dowden, Hutchinson & Ross, Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania, 1972).
Miller, A. R. in The Mediterranean Sea (ed. Stanley, D. J.) 37–42 (Dowden, Hutchinson & Ross, Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania, 1972).
Venkatarathnam, K., Biscaye, P. E. & Ryan, W. B. F. in The Mediterranean Sea (ed. Stanley, D. J.) 455–469 (Dowden, Hutchinson & Ross, Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania, 1972).
Heiken, G. & McCoy, F. Jr J. geophys. Res. 89, 8441–8462 (1984).
Wigley, T. M. L. & Farmer, G. B.A.R. Int. Ser. 133, (eds Bintliff, J. L. & van Zeist, W.) 3–37 (British Archaeological Reports, Oxford, 1982).
Blong, R. J. in Thera and the Aegean World II (ed. Doumas, C.) 217–226 (Aegean World, London, 1980).
Blong, R. J. in Tephra Studies (eds Sparks, R. S. J. & Self, S.) 405–420 (Reidel, Dordrecht, 1981).
Thorarinsson, S. Acta Int. Sci. Congr. Volcano Thera 213–236 (Greek Archaeological Science, Athens, 1971).
Buckland, P. C., Foster, P., Perry, D. W. & Savory, D. in Tephra Studies (eds Sparks, R. S. J. & Self, S.) 381–289 (Reidel, Dordrecht. 1981).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Sullivan, D. The discovery of Santorini Minoan tephra in western Turkey. Nature 333, 552–554 (1988). https://doi.org/10.1038/333552a0
Received:
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/333552a0
This article is cited by
-
Mid to late Holocene water level and inferred climate changes of Lake Salda (SW Anatolia/Turkey): evidence from high-resolution seismic and sediment-core records
Journal of Paleolimnology (2023)
-
Tephrostratigraphy and chronology of the Quaternary Gölludağ and Acıgöl volcanic complexes (Central Anatolia, Turkey)
Mediterranean Geoscience Reviews (2019)
-
Not the End of the World? Post-Classical Decline and Recovery in Rural Anatolia
Human Ecology (2018)
-
Reconstructing the tephra dispersal pattern from the Bronze Age eruption of Santorini using an advection–diffusion model
Bulletin of Volcanology (2012)
-
Numerical simulation of tsunamis generated by caldera collapse during the 7.3 ka Kikai eruption, Kyushu, Japan
Earth, Planets and Space (2006)
Comments
By submitting a comment you agree to abide by our Terms and Community Guidelines. If you find something abusive or that does not comply with our terms or guidelines please flag it as inappropriate.