Five kilometers from Thera, volcanologist Haraldur Sigurdsson and oceanographer Robert Ballard explored the Kolumbo volcano discovering hydrothermal vents. Temperatures reached 220 degrees centigrade amidst the gases and fluids. The Bronze-Age eruption, subject of Cataclysm in Blue Water, is now believed to be the second largest in human history. Deposits of volcanic pumice and ash spread 20-30 kilometers in all directions from Santorini. Now known to be 10-80 meters thick, these deposits revised estimates to 60 cubic kilometers of ejected volcanic material. Only Mount Tambora tops this massive eruption.
The high temperatures of the vents tell scientists that this volcano is very much alive. Magma is close to the surface. Let's hope we don't see a repeat performance of what killed an entire civilization anytime soon!
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