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| Titel |
Evidence from cosmic-ray exposure dating based on 36Cl for the pre-Minoan caldera on Santorini, Greece |
| VerfasserIn |
Constantin Athanassas, Didier Bourlès, Régis Braucher, Tim Druitt, Paraskevi Nomikou, Laetitia Leanni |
| Konferenz |
EGU General Assembly 2016
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| Medientyp |
Artikel
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| Sprache |
en
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| Digitales Dokument |
PDF |
| Erschienen |
In: GRA - Volume 18 (2016) |
| Datensatznummer |
250137264
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| Publikation (Nr.) |
 EGU/EGU2016-18480.pdf |
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| Zusammenfassung |
| The physiography of Santorini prior to the Minoan (Late Bronze Age) eruption (17th century
BCE) is of great archaeological interest, given the importance of Santorini as a
commercial centre and port in the Minoan empire. However, the paleogeography
of the pre-Minoan caldera has been a point of controversy: Heiken and McCoy
(1984) advocated the existence, in the southern part of the present-day caldera, of a
pre-existing caldera formed during the 172 ka Lower Pumice eruption, whereas
Druitt and Francaviglia (1992), based on the presence of in situ plinian pumice
from the Minoan eruption adhering to the modern cliff, conceived the pre-Minoan
(22 ka) caldera as having occupied much of the northern basin of the present-day
caldera.
With the goal of settling the debate we performed cosmic ray exposure dating employing
in situ-produced cosmogenic 36Cl to date different generations of caldera cliffs at Santorini,
and hence to identify those cliffs predating the Minoan eruption. Our methodology involved
the determination of the in situ-produced cosmogenic 36Cl in basaltic and andesitic rocks
cropping out in the cliffs.
The samples returned 36Cl CRE ages consistent with previously published field mapping
of cliff populations based on geomorphological and stratigraphic arguments (Druitt and
Francaviglia 1992), suggesting that much of the present cliff line of northern Santorini
predated the Minoan eruption, or was superficially modified by landslips and rockfalls during
that eruption. The 36Cl CRE ages enable us to better define the paleogeography of the
pre-Minoan caldera.
References
[1] 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 54,
484-493.
[2] Heiken G and McCoy F (1984) Caldera development during the Minoan eruption,
Thira, Cyclades, Greece. Journal of Geophysical Research: 89 (B10), 8841-8862. |
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