In 1939, Spyridon Marinatos advocated in the archaeological journal Antiquity that the Bronze Age Santorini eruption directly caused the destruction of the Minoan civilisation on Crete. Since then, the study of this eruption has been carried forward by countless researchers inspiring three international conferences, the proceedings of which have provided a valuable source of information on the Archaeology and Volcanology of the eruption. Despite the eruption's popularity in the academic and mainstream literature, there still remain several aspects that have been previously under-researched. In the context of a critical examination of tephra dispersal modelling methods, eruption deposits and observations and interpretations of field data, this thesis has sought to shed light on some of these. Volcanic ballistics have been used to obtain first-order estimates of velocities and eruption overpressures for ballistics landing at the archaeological site of Akrotiri. This is the first known study to contribute a solely quantitative ballistic investigation into the interaction between the eruption products and Akrotiri. A forward model has been used in conjunction with two inversion methods to take a unique approach to clarify source conditions and transport parameters of the eruption. Reconstructions of the eruption conditions and seasonality have been made that are consistent with the resultant deposit patterns. Observations of pyroclastic mud flow emplacement on shallow slopes outside the caldera walls can only be consistent with the caldera being infilled with eruption products that are not preserved. Field observations and seismic reflection surveys suggest this material was downfaulted. This novel hypothesis is developed and tested, and the eruption volume re-estimated to include this additional material. Finally, the stratigraphic relations of Santorini's intracaldera fill are examined and a new volcanological interpretation of the deposits is presented. The downfaulted material is suggested to be made up of six characteristic layers, the volumes of which have been used to calculate the rate of volcanism and magma supply since the Minoan eruption. 11
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:bl.uk/oai:ethos.bl.uk:654562 |
| Date | January 2014 |
| Creators | Johnston, Emma N. |
| Publisher | University of Bristol |
| Source Sets | Ethos UK |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Electronic Thesis or Dissertation |
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