First, I would like to present an excellent 2016 Nature article on the LBA Minoan eruption of
Santorini which excludes caldera collapse as a major contributor to tsunami creation.
"the NW strait was carved by inrushing of the sea into the newly collapsed caldera once the
eruption was over. This therefore rules out caldera collapse as a major mechanism of tsunami
generation associated with the LBA eruption."
Post-eruptive flooding of Santorini caldera and implications for tsunami generation.
Nomikou, P.,Druitt, T. H., Hubscher, C., Mather, T. A., Paulatto, M., Kalnins, L. M., Kelfoun, K., Papanikolaou, D., Bejelou, K., Lampridou, D., Pyle, D. M., Carey, S., Watts, A. B., Weib, B., Parks, M. M., Nature Communications 7, 13332 (2016) doi:10.1038/ncomms13332.
This leaves the entry of volcanic pyroclastic flows into the ocean as the only viable
mechanism for major tsunami generation. This is addressed in the following 2011 publication.
According to the principle of dimensionality in physics there is simply not enough energy
in these flows to produce anything more that a relatively minor inundation of the
mountainous coastlines of Crete.
Modelling of tsunami generated by the giant Late Bronze Age eruption of Thera, South Aegean Sea, Greece.
Novikova, T., Papadopoulos, G. and McCoy, F.W., 2011, Geophysics Jour. International. (2011) 186.
pp. 665-680. doi: 10.1111/j.1365-246X.2011.05062.x
Accordingly, the Novikova publication "specifies a variable tsunami wavefront that is up to
28 meters (92 feet) high (max.) and includes a low resolution 450 meter (492 yards) maximum
inland inundation limit". A graphical representation of Novikova's inundation limit, as well
as others, is included in the following publication:
The "Sinking Atlantis" Tsunami Myth Debunked
All of this provides overwhelming evidence the great ~1613 BC eruption caused no major tsunami
destruction in the Aegean.
W. Sheppard Baird
Copyright © 2007, 2024 W. Sheppard Baird
All Rights Reserved