Post-Conference Field Trips COV 11

Santorini Volcano 18-21 June 2022

Field Leaders

Dávid Karátson

Institute of Geography and Earth Sciences, Eötvös University, Hungary
karatson.david@ttk.elte.hu

Paraskevi Nomikou

Department of Geology and Geoenvironment, NKUA, Athens, Greece
evinom@geol.uoa.gr

Ralf Gertisser

Keele University,UK
r.gertisser@keele.ac.uk

Kyriaki Drymoni

University of Milano-Bicocca, Italy
kyriaki.drymoni@unimib.it

Date
18-21 June 2022

Duration
4 days

Number of participants
25-45

Post – Conference Field Trip Santorini Volcano is fully booked

Cost
520 €

With the Support of

Με την Υποστήριξη

Municipality of Thira

Geothira

Special thanks to our Sponsors & Supporters

Metaxa Hospitality Group

Tomato Industrial Museum “D. Nomikos”

The Union of Santorini Cooperatives – Santo Wines

HOLIDAY TOURS SANTORINIS

ESTIA PYRGOY

SeaJets

Guided Tour by Evgenia Liodaki (Akrotiri excavations)

Guided tour by Joseph Perros (Pyrgos village)

Post Field Trip Guide

Santorini Volcano lies 110 km north of Crete. It consists of five islands in a small, circular archipelago around a caldera measuring 12 by 7 km, with 200-300 m high, steep cliffs on three sides. It is one of the largest volcanic centres of the 500 km long South Aegean Volcanic Arc, which is due to subduction of the eastern Mediterranean crust beneath the Aegean region.

Santorini lies on a submarine rift zone extending from the extinct Christiana Volcano in the SW to the submarine Kolumbo chain of volcanoes in the NE, and is the largest centre of the group. The earliest recorded volcanism on Santorini took place about 700,000 years ago, and since 350,000 years ago the activity has been highly explosive, with over a hundred explosive eruptions of which a dozen or more were of plinian intensity and shed pyroclastic flows into the sea. Repeat times for major explosive eruptions on the islands are on the order of about 20,000 years, although this has been very variable.

The last large explosive eruption occurred in the late Bronze Age, probably around 1620 BCE, and laid down deposits of pumice and ash up to 50 m thick all over the islands. The eruption products buried an affluent contemporary town at the ancient site of Akrotiri, and may have impacted the Minoan civilization on Crete through a combination of tsunamis, ash fallout, acid rain and atmospheric ozone depletion. The eruption is considered to have been one of the largest in the past 10,000 years worldwide, and is an iconic event in both volcanology and archaeology. It impacted both local and regional cultures, and may have fueled the Atlantis legend.

The eruption formed the present-day caldera, which consists of three flat-floored basins: a large northern basin 390 m deep, and two smaller ones (western, 320 m and southern, 270m deep). In recent years the caldera has been the subject of state of the art marine research, including high-resolution bathymetric mapping and seismic studies of the caldera volcano-sedimentary fill. The Christiana-Santorini-Kolumbo volcanic line was also the subject of a major seismic tomography experiment in 2017.

Following the eruption in the late Bronze Age, a new caldera cycle has formed the islands of Nea and Palea Kameni in the centre of the caldera. These islands are in fact the summits of a single, mostly submarine edifice 400 m high that has produced over nine eruptions of lava in historical times. The earliest recorded eruption of Kameni Volcano was 197 BCE, and the last took place in 1950. Over 15 months in 2011-2012 the Kameni Islands were uplifted by several centimetres, and the level of microseismicity greatly increased, probably due to intrusion of new magma at a depth of about 4 km beneath the northern caldera basin.

Santorini had a 2011 census population of 15,550, but it attracts over 2 million tourists a year from all over the globe. The municipality includes the inhabited islands of Santorini and Therassia and the uninhabited islands of Nea Kameni, Palea Kameni, Aspronisi, and Christiana. All urban settlements are considered as Historical and Cultural Heritage sites, and their development is protected and regulated by specific laws in terms of building materials and architecture. The traditional architecture of Santorini is similar to that of the other Cyclades islands, with low-lying cubical houses made of local stone and whitewashed or limewashed with various volcanic ashes used as colours. The two main sources of wealth on Santorini are agriculture and tourism, but it remains the home to a small, but flourishing wine industry.

The field trip will visit many key outcrops of volcanic products from the Bronze-Age and earlier eruptions. A boat tour of the caldera will enable us to climb Nea Kameni Island and examine the products of the many historical eruptions. A guided visit of the archaeological site of ancient Akrotiri will also be included.

Indicative Program

Saturday,  18 June, 2022  

08:00

Departure from Heraklion Harbor – Vessel: POWER JET, Trip Duration: 2 hours

09:50Arrival at the Santorini Port (Athinos) 
10:00Athinios: Basement lithologies-Eruptive Cycles
12:00

Hotel Check-in at Perivolos village (Holiday Beach Resort)

13:00

Lunch break

14:30

Departure from Hotel to Pyrgos village 

15:00-17:30

Introduction of the Santorini Field Trip / Presentations at  Estia Cultural Center (Pyrgos village)

17:30-19:00

Visit of the Pyrgos Medieval Castle and village / Sunset view from Pyrgos castle (Guided tour by Joseph Perros)

19:30Dinner 

Sunday, 19 June, 2022

08.00
Departure from the Hotel
08:30

Visit at the Prehistoric museum of Thera (Fira town) 

09:30

Meeting Point at Orthodox Metropolitan Cathedral in Fira, 10 -20 min walk to the Fira Cable Car

10:30

Depart from Fira Old port

Boat tour within Santorini caldera – Nea Kameni – Hike up the central volcanic island – Palea Kameni – View dacitic lava flows, thermal springs (www.santorinivolcano.gr)

13:30

Thirasia dome complex – lunch break   

14:30

Thirasia coast to Oia – View of the northern caldera Dyke swarm (Armeni –Eptapaides) and Skaros volcanic shield

15:30

Arrival at Athinios port

17:30Departure from Hotel
16:00-18:00

Wine Testing – Santo Winery – Sunset view

19:00

Return to Hotel or Free time to visit the city of Santorini Island (Fira)

Monday, 20 June, 2022

08:30
Departure from the Hotel
09:00

Akrotiri excavations—Minoan Bronze‐age settlement  (Guided Tour by Evgenia Liodaki)

11:00Kokkini paralia—Red beach cinder cone
12:00

METAXA Mine (known also as Mavromatis mine) — Products of  Minoan eruption and earlier eruptions https://nom.maps.arcgis.com/apps/Cascade/index.html?appid=2a6c54875bf743dd8143786a55dcb2b1

14:00–15:30

Lunch at Santorini Arts Factory (SAF) tasting local food specialties;  Visit of the Tomato Industrial Museum “D. Nomikos” (https://www.tomatomuseum.gr/the-museum/)

16:00

Vlychada/Theros beach—pyroclastic flow deposits from the Minoan eruption 

17:00

Prophitis Ilias—Metamorphic basement

18:30

Arrival at the Hotel

20:00

Dinner

Tuesday, 21 June, 2022

08.30
Hotel Check out
09:30

Megalo Vouno, Mikros Profitis Ilias—Explore cinder cones and basalts, Kolumbo fault zone & dykes

12:00

Free time to visit the Village of Oia

13:30

Departure from Oia to Fira or Athinios port

14:30

End of the Field Trip

Participation fee includes:

  • Sharing twin/or triple room with breakfast in Perivolos 3-night stay
  • Bus transfers needed at Santorini all days 
  • Cable Car 1way return ticket (19 June)
  • Boat trip for 5 hrs within the Caldera (19 June)
  • 2 Lunch boxes (18 & 19 June), 
  • Lunch at Santorini Arts Factory/Tomato Factory (20 June),
  • 2 Dinners (18 June & 20 June), 
  • Santo Winery tasting and guiding in the winery (19 June)
  • Guide tour for Pyrgos village (18 June)
  • Ticket for the Volcano (19 June)
  • Akrotiri Excavations (Guided Tour and Tickets) (20 June)
  • Museum of Prehistoric Thera (Guided Tour and tickets ) (21 June)

IMPORTANT NOTES:
-Bring your Professional/Student card with you
-Diploma of participation will be given after the end of the Field trip

Participation fee does not include:

  • Boat Ticket from Heraklion to Santorini (89,70 euro)
  • Accommodation city taxes per room per night
  • WiFi on coach
  • Meals not mentioned in the program
  • Drinks and beverages not mentioned in the program
  • Porterage Service
  • Gratuities (Tips, are optional)
  • Personal expenses
  • Travel Insurance

Accessibility

Herakion is directly connected with Santorini island during high season in Greece (April-September) either via direct flights or direct ferry itineraries. Hours and costs of the itineraries will be available soon.

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