View source for Kolumbo

{{short description|Active submarine volcano in the Aegean Sea near Santorini}}
{{Infobox Seamount
| name=Kolumbo
| map=Kolumbo Map.jpg
| depth= {{Convert|-10|m|ft|-1|abbr=on}}
| height= {{convert|400|m|ft|0|abbr=on}}
| Summit=
| location=[[Aegean Sea]]
| group=
| coordinates ={{coord|36|31|00|N|25|29|30|E|type:mountain |display=inline,title}}
| country =[[Greece]]
| type=[[Submarine volcano]]
| volcanic_group=[[South Aegean Volcanic Arc]]
| age=
| last_eruption=1650
| discovered=1649
| discovered_by=
| first_visit=
| photo=
| photo_caption =
}}
'''Kolumbo''' is an active [[submarine volcano]] in the [[Aegean Sea]] in [[Greece]], about 8&nbsp;km northeast of Cape Kolumbo, [[Santorini]] island. The largest of a line of about twenty submarine volcanic cones extending to the northeast from Santorini,<ref>Ref. University of Rhode Island: Kolumbo</ref> it is about 3&nbsp;km in diameter with a crater 1.5&nbsp;km across.<ref>Most of the information in this article is derived from the on-line reports of the NOAA Ocean Explorer, in References.</ref> It was first noticed by humans when it breached the sea surface in 1649-50. The [[Smithsonian Institution]]'s [[Global Volcanism Program]] treats it as part of the Santorini volcano,<ref>{{cite gvp|vn=212040|name=Santorini|accessdate=2017-07-12}}</ref> though at least one source maintains that it is a separate magmatic system.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1= Klaver |first1= Martijn |last2= Carey |first2= Steven |last3= Nomikou |first3= Paraskevi |last4= Smet |first4= Ingrid |last5= Godelitsas |first5= Athanasios |last6= Vroon |first6 = Pieter |year= 2016 |title= A distinct source and differentiation history for Kolumbo submarine volcano, Santorini volcanic field, Aegean arc |journal= Geochemistry, Geophysics, Geosystems |publisher= American Geophysical Union |volume= 17 |issue= 8 |pages= 3254–3273  |doi= 10.1002/2016GC006398 |pmid= 27917071|pmc= 5114867 |bibcode= 2016GGG....17.3254K}}</ref>
==History==
An eruption in 1650, which occurred when the accumulating cone reached the surface, sent [[pyroclastic flow]]s across the sea surface to the shores and slopes of Santorini, where about seventy people and many animals died. A small ring of white [[pumice]] that formed was rapidly eroded away by wave action. The volcano collapsed into its [[caldera]], triggering a [[tsunami]] that caused damage on nearby islands up to 150&nbsp;km distant.<ref>Ref. University of Rhode Island: Kolumbo; Fouqué 1879</ref> The highest parts of the crater rim are now about 10&nbsp;m below sea level.
In 2006, sea floor [[Pyroclastic flow|pyroclastic deposit]]s from the two Aegean explosions were explored, sampled and mapped by an expedition by [[National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration|NOAA Ocean Explorer]], equipped with [[Remotely operated underwater vehicle|ROV]] robotics.
The crater floor, averaging about 505&nbsp;m below the sea surface, is marked in its northeast area by a field of [[hydrothermal vent]]s and covered by a thick [[extremophile|bacterial]] community, the 2006 NOAA expedition discovered. Superheated (measured as hot as 224&nbsp;°C) metal-enriched water issuing from the vents has built chimneys of polymetallic sulfide/sulfates to a maximum height of 4 m, apparently accumulated since the 1650 event.
The 2006 expedition initiated new seismic air-gun techniques in order to determine the volume and distribution of the submarine volcanic deposit of pumice and ash on the sea floor around Santorini, which has been studied extensively since 1975. Revised, more accurate estimates of the total [[dense rock equivalent]] volume of the Minoan event(s), consisting of pyroclastic sea floor deposits, distal ash fallout and [[ignimbrite]]s on the island of Santorini, is likely about 60&nbsp;km<sup>3</sup>, a greatly increased estimate,<ref>Compare Sigurdsson et al. 1990.</ref> comparable to the largest historic explosion, [[Mount Tambora]] 1815; the increased estimate affects the size of the ensuing [[tsunami]] as it has been widely modeled.
In October 2022 it was announced that a previously undetected magma chamber had been discovered approximately 2 to 4 km below sea level in the Kolumbo underwater volcano. Scientists had determined that it is gradually filling with melt. Although an eruption is not imminent, it does pose a threat which has prompted them to recommend real-time monitoring of the volcano.<ref>{{cite journal |last1= Chrapkiewicz |first1= K. |last2=  Paulatto|first2= M. |last3= Heath|first3= B. A. |last4= Hooft |first4= E. E. E.
|last5= Nomikou |first5= P. |last6= Papazachos |first6= C. B. |last7= Schmid |first7= F. |last8= Toomey |first8= D. R. |last9= Warner |first9= M. R. |last10= Morgan |first10= J. V.|author10-link= Joanna Morgan |year= 2022 |title= Magma Chamber Detected Beneath an Arc Volcano With Full-Waveform Inversion of Active-Source Seismic Data |journal= Geochemistry, Geophysics, Geosystems |publisher= American Geophysical Union |volume= 23 |issue= 11 |doi= 10.1029/2022GC010475 |s2cid= 253104406 |doi-access= free |bibcode= 2022GGG....2310475C }}</ref>
==See also==
*[[Minoan eruption]]
*[[Timeline of volcanism on Earth]]
==Notes==
{{reflist|2}}
==References==
{{refbegin}}
*[http://oceanexplorer.noaa.gov/explorations/06blacksea/logs/summary_thera/summary_thera.html NOAA Ocean Explorer: Thera 2006 Expedition Summary]
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20070525040856/http://www.uri.edu/endeavor/thera/index.html NOAA Ocean Explorer: Thera 2006 Expedition detailed Log]
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20070525041330/http://www.uri.edu/endeavor/thera/kolumbo.html University of Rhode Island: Kolumbo Volcano]
*[[Ferdinand André Fouqué]], ''Santorin et ses éruptions'' (Paris: Masson) 1879.
*Haraldur Sigurdsson, S. Carey, C. Mandeville, 1990. "Assessment of mass, dynamics and environmental effects of the Minoan eruption of the Santorini volcano" in ''Thera and the Aegean World III: Proceedings of the Third Thera Conference'', vol II, pp 100–12.
*Haraldur Sigurdsson and S. Carey "Marine investigations of Greece's Santorini volcanic field"  ([https://web.archive.org/web/20070630233518/http://www.uri.edu/endeavor/thera/EOS.pdf on-line text]) Sigurdsson and Carey's revised estimate.
{{refend}}
==Further reading==
{{refbegin}}
*Kilias, S.P., Nomikou, P., Papanikolaou, D., Polymenakou, P.N., Godelitsas, A., Argyraki, A., Carey, S., Gamaletsos, P., Mertzimekis, T.J., Stathopoulou, E., Goettlicher, J., Steininger, R., Betzelou, K., Livanos, I., Christakis, Ch., Croff Bell, K., Scoullos, M. (2013). New insights into hydrothermal vent processes in the unique shallow-submarine arc-volcano, Kolumbo (Santorini), Greece. Scientific Reports 3. doi:10.1038/srep02421
*{{cite journal |last1= Preine |first1= J. |last2=Karstens |first2= K. |last3= Hübscher |first3= C. |last4= Nomikou |first4= P. |last5= Schmid |first5= F. |last6= Crutchley |first6= G.J. |last7= Druitt |first7= T.H. |last8= Papanikolaou |first8= D. |title= Spatio-temporal evolution of the Christiana-Santorini-Kolumbo volcanic field, Aegean Sea |journal= Geology |publisher= Geological Society of America |place= Boulder, CO |year= 2021 |volume= 50 |pages= 96–100 |doi= 10.1130/G49167.1 |s2cid= 241834116 |doi-access= free }}
*Vougioukalakis, G., A. Sbrana and D. Mitropoulos, 1995. "The 1649-50 Kolumbo submarine volcano activity, Santorini, Greece," in F. Barberi, R. Casale, M. Fratta, (eds.) ''The European Laboratory Volcanoes: Workshop Proceeding'' (Luxembourg: EC European Science Commission) pp 189–92.
{{refend}}
==External links==
{{commonscat-inline}}
[[Category:Minoan geography]]
[[Category:Calderas of Greece]]
[[Category:Volcanoes of Greece]]
[[Category:Volcanoes of the Aegean]]
[[Category:Submarine calderas]]
[[Category:Active volcanoes]]
[[Category:VEI-4 volcanoes]]
[[Category:17th-century volcanic events]]
[[Category:Landforms of Thira (regional unit)]]
[[Category:Landforms of the South Aegean]]
[[Category:Ephemeral islands]]
[[Category:Former islands from the last glacial maximum]]