Santorini volcano is restless but not dangerous, say geologists
SEP 13, 2012
DOI: 10.1063/PT.5.026338
National Geographic : Earlier this year, in her Down to Earth column “Will she blow? Magma chamber inflation at Santorini caldera,” Physics Today‘s Earth sciences correspondent Rachel Berkowitz wrote about the recent geodetic unrest in the Aegean Sea island group. Now satellite radar technology has confirmed the source of the problem, writes Brian Handwerk for National Geographic. Apparently, the magma chamber under the volcano at the heart of the caldera swelled because a huge amount of molten lava rushed into it. Over the past year or so, the event caused Santorini island’s surface to expand upward and outward, and residents have been noticing their wine glasses vibrating and strange smells in the air. However, because the earthquake activity and bulging have slowed over the past few months, geologists don’t believe that any major eruption is imminent.
© 2012 American Institute of Physics
