Editing Santorini (section)

==== Minoan eruption ====
{{Main|Minoan eruption}}

During the [[Bronze Age]], Santorini was the site of the [[Minoan eruption]], one of the largest volcanic eruptions in human history. It was centred on a small island just north of the existing island of Nea Kameni in the centre of the caldera; the caldera itself was formed several hundred thousand years ago by the collapse of the centre of a circular island, caused by the emptying of the magma chamber during an eruption. It has been filled several times by [[ignimbrite]] since then, and the process repeated itself, most recently 21,000 years ago. The northern part of the caldera was refilled by the volcano, then collapsed once more during the Minoan eruption. Before the Minoan eruption, the caldera formed a nearly continuous ring with the only entrance between the islet of Aspronisi and Thera; the eruption destroyed the sections of the ring between Aspronisi and Therasia, and between Therasia and Thera, creating two new channels.

On Santorini, a deposit of white [[tephra]] thrown from the eruption is up to {{cvt|60|m|ft}} thick, overlying the soil marking the ground level before the eruption, and forming a layer divided into three fairly distinct bands indicating different phases of the eruption. Archaeological discoveries in 2006 by a team of international scientists revealed that the Santorini event was much more massive than previously thought; it expelled {{cvt|61|km3|cumi}} of magma and rock into the Earth's atmosphere, compared to previous estimates of only {{cvt|39|km3|cumi}} in 1991,<ref name="Rhode Island">{{cite web|url=http://www.uri.edu/news/releases/?id=3654 |title= Santorini eruption much larger than originally believed|publisher=[[University of Rhode Island]] Department of Communications and Marketing |url-status=dead|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20150713045841/http://www.uri.edu/news/releases/?id=3654 |archive-date=2015-07-13}}</ref><ref name="Lovett-2006">{{cite web|url= http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2006/08/060823-thera-volcano.html|title=Atlantis Eruption Twice as Big as Previously Believed, Study Suggests|first=Richard A.|last=Lovett|date=23 August 2006|publisher=[[National Geographic]] News|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090302212141/http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2006/08/060823-thera-volcano.html |archive-date=2 March 2009}}</ref> producing an estimated {{cvt|100|km3|cumi}} of tephra. Only the [[Mount Tambora]] volcanic eruption of 1815, the [[Hatepe eruption|181 AD eruption]] of the [[Taupō Volcano|Taupo Volcano]], and possibly [[Baekdu Mountain]]'s 946 AD eruption have released more material into the atmosphere during the past 5,000 years.
[[File:SantoriniPartialPano.jpg|thumb|upright=1.8|center|{{center|Partial panoramic view of the [[Santorini caldera]], taken from Oia}}]]

The Minoan eruption has been considered as possible inspiration for ancient stories including [[Atlantis]] and the [[The Exodus|Exodus]]. The content of the stories is not supported by current archaeological research, but remain popular in [[pseudohistory]] and [[pseudoarchaeology]].{{fact|date=May 2025}}