The lost island of Thera

The lost island of Thera

Imagine a volcanic eruption so massive that it is the equivalent of
150 hydrogen bombs all going off at the same spot with a couple of
seconds. Imagine that this explosion was on a Mediterranean island,
yet was of such great force that the blast was felt continents
away. Imagine the blast leaving a hole 8 miles wide and 1 mile
deep. The waters of the surrounding sea would then have gushed in
to create a spectacular 1-mile high waterfall, the likes of which
had never before been seen. It would also have created a tidal wave
which reach 30 miles inland along the shores of the Aegan, with a
wave height of about 800 feet.

All this is not a scene from a spectacular Hollywood blockbuster,
it was a real historical event which occurred over 3000 years ago
in 1628 BC. The island was called Thera, and it was devastated by a
volcanic erruption which began the greatest natural explosion the
world has ever seen.

Thera was an island in the Aegean sea in the Mediterranean, what is
left of the island is now called Santorini. 3000 year ago. When the
explosion occurred on Thera, a dense cloud of ash was sent up and
around the world, blocking out the sun for some time.

An Eygptian scribe at the time wrote: "For nine days no-one could
see the face of his fellow. The sun is coloured and does not shine
in the sight of men. If only it would shine even for one hour.
No-one knows when it is mid-day. One shadow is not discernable. The
sun in the heavens resembles the moon."

And in China, one writer recorded "In the 29th year of King J the
sun was dimmed. Ice formed in the summer mornings and there was
frost for six months. Crops withered and died."

In California, the core of a 5,000 year old ristlecone pine shows a
ring of dark cells dating back to the same year.

In the Greenland ice caps, each year of fresh snow-fall builds up a
distinct layer in the ice. When glaciers of ice are drilled into,
we can count back layer-by-year, and within 7 years of 1628 BC
there are traces of Theran Sulpher and ash.

Thera was part of the thriving Minoan empire. Despite being so far
in the past, the Minoan empire was surprisingly advanced. In the
1970s, archeologists uncovered a lost town from underneath the ash
on part of what is left of the island. The town was earily intact.
And the researchers were able to walk around it, going from
building to building. The Therans clearly loved their art. Every
home seems to have had beautiful frescos on almost every wall.
Paintings of monkeys showed that the Therans had contact with
Africa. Their homes were multi-storied buildings with sophisticated
plumbing. They have even had hot running water in each home. They
also enjoyed flushing toilets, showers and bathtubs. All of this
almost 4000 years ago.



When Thera erupted, the tidal wave formed would have destroyed the
navy on Crete, and begun the decline of the Minoan civilisation
itself. The Minoan civilisation was centred on Crete, but covered
the whole of the Mediterranean.

One interesting side to this story is that many believe the island
of Thera could have been the basis for Plato's story of Atlantis,
the advanced island that was sunk underwater overnight. Plato's
Atlantis traded with Eygpt, just like Thera did. Thera also seems
to have been a prosperous island, with plenty of sea-faring traffic
coming through its ports, just as Plato's Atlantis did. And, just
like Plato's Atlantis, Thera was destroyed overnight in a natural
disaster, and disappeared under the sea.