Volcano-tectonic evolution of the Christiana-Santorini-Kolumbo marine volcanic field / central Aegean Sea

• Applicant: Professor Dr. Christian Hübscher
• Subject Area: Palaeontology
• Term: from 2019 to 2023
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 434763330

Volcanic hazards and risk mitigation lie at the heart of global geoscience, with about 800 million people living in regions threatened by eruptions. Volcanoes interact with their environments in complex ways, and better understanding of these interactions is of high scientific and socio-economic importance. The 100-km-long and 45-km-wide Christiana-Santorini-Kolumbo marine volcanic field developed in a complex rift system of Pliocene to Holocene age within the Hellenides. Here, the largest 20th century shallow earthquake in Europe of magnitude 7.4 took place in 1956. The Anhydros basin contains the Kolumbo volcanic chain adjacent to the volcanic island of Santorini. The so-called "Minoan" in the Late Bronze Age about 3600 yrs ago was the last Plinian eruption of Santorini, which was followed by a destructive tsunami. After reprocessing of a unique reflection seismic data compilation, this project strives for: 1) Reconstructing the rift processes of the individual basins. 2) Studying the relative temporal and causal relationship between rift tectonics and volcanism. 3) Investigating the collapse of the Santorini caldera after the Minoan eruption and volcano-tectonic overprint afterwards.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants
• International Connection: Greece
• Cooperation Partners: Professorin Dr. Paraskevi Nomikou; Professor Dr. Dimitris Papanikolaou