Underwater volcano could put this popular holiday destination at risk

The famous Greek island of Santorini, known as a top world tourism destination for its picturesque views and beautiful beaches, is flocked every year by half a million tourists.

Santorini is also famous for having a passive volcano, which throughout the years has contributed to the shape of the land and is a top to-do in terms of sightseeing.

However, not many people are aware that just 4 miles off Santorini lies the Kolumbo underwater volcano which last erupted in 1650 C.E. and killed 77 people, Newsweek reports.

New discovery is a 'serious threat'

In a new study, scientists have discovered a magma chamber beneath the Kolumbo volcano, thus exposing a serious threat of eruption in the near future.

A magma chamber is a reservoir of lava that is still trapped beneath the earth. According to Newsweek, the scientists involved in the study believe the previously undiscovered magma chamber is growing steadily every year:

[at an] average rate of roughly 4 million cubic meters per year since the submarine volcano last erupted. The amount of melt in there is now 1.4 cubic kilometres.

Call for better monitoring

In a press release, Michele Paulatto, a volcanologist at Imperial College London and one of the leading scientists who made the discovery, said that the magma chamber was revealed using a full-waveform inversion technology:

Full-waveform inversion is similar to a medical ultrasound. It uses sound waves to construct an image of the underground structure of a volcano.

Kajetan Chrapkiewicz, a geophysicist at Imperial College London and lead author of the study, has said that data about underwater volcanos is scarce and blurry, Phys Org reports.

Although the volumes of underneath magma can be estimated, there is no way to tell for sure if and when Kolumbo will erupt next.

If the current rate of growth inside the magma chamber continues, sometime in the next 150 years Kolumbo could reach approximately two cubic kilometres of magma,which is the same amount thought to have caused the last eruption hundreds of years ago.

It is possible that Kolumbo could produce a highly explosive eruption. Scientists report that it would be particularly destructive due to its close proximity to Santorini. Popular tourist sights on the island are only 4 miles away.

The volcano is also quite shallow, lying 1,600 feet below the surface of the sea, which could make the explosion even larger. Submarine volcanoes like this could possibly cause destructive tsunami waves and ash fall.

As a result, scientists involved in the study have called for better monitoring facilities near the Kolumbo volcano.

Sources used:

-Newsweek: ‘Hidden Magma Chamber Reaching Critical Point 'Poses Serious Threat'

-PhysOrg: ‘Surprise magma chamber growing under Mediterranean volcano’