It was dormant for 400 years, but now Kolumbo, an underwater volcano near the Greek island of Santorini, has awakened.
A previously undetected magma chamber is gradually filling with volcanic fluid, leading scientists to recommend real-time monitoring of the volcano.
The last time Colombo erupted, in 1650, 70 people were killed.
Now, the increase in population and tourism in Santorini is raising concerns about the effects of a similar outbreak today, which would be much more deadly.
Colombo belongs to a family of extremely explosive active volcanoes, capable of producing an eruption column tens of kilometers high. It can also trigger a tsunami.
Underwater activity in Colombo (photo: screenshot, official website)
Underwater activity in Colombo (photo: screenshot, official website)
Using new imaging techniques - similar to ultrasound - scientists from Imperial College London identified the magma chamber filling up about three kilometers below the volcano.
From the conclusions published in the journal Geochemistry, Geophysics, Geosystems, it appears that although the eruption is not immediate, the volcano poses a serious danger.
Another group of researchers from the Joides Resolution Institute are drilling into the sediments around Colombo to reconstruct its eruptive history over the past few million years.
They also hope to understand the links between earthquakes and volcanoes in the region and study the effect of sea level change on the intensity and frequency of eruptions.
news
world news
Europe
Tags
Volcano
Santorini
Greece