Santorini’s powerful Minoan-era eruption
Around 1600 BCE, a catastrophic volcanic event reshaped the island of Santorini, buried the Minoan settlement of Akrotiri, and had far-reaching consequences across the Mediterranean. When I first visited Santorini in 1989, I read that the eruption caused Minoan civilization to collapse. But researchers have continued to investigate the eruption's impact on the region and to refine the ages of...
The astonishing volcanic island of Santorini
Santorini is an immensely popular tourist destination, and for good reasons. One of the most powerful volcanic eruptions in recorded history created the dramatic landscapes that make this island one of the most beautiful in the world. Around 3600 years ago, during the Bronze Age (~1600 BCE) at the height of Minoan civilization, a massive eruption emitted vast quantities of...
Crete is rising during earthquakes, and rivers are cutting down
Crete is a fascinating place—it is quite mountainous and, although it's Greece's largest island, its population is only about 650,000 people. We spent most of our time there hiking along the southwest coast (see previous post: https://landscapes-revealed.net/cretes-gorgeous-gorges/). The large gorges where we hiked are evidence that rivers have been cutting downward as a result of the land rising. This post...
Crete’s Gorgeous Gorges
Crete is the largest island in Greece and it’s another remarkable Mediterranean destination for geologists or any outdoor enthusiast. In this post, I’ll describe the hikes we did in the southwest corner of Crete. In my next post, I’ll explain why there are so many deep gorges in Crete—it’s all about the geology of course! Itinerary of our self-guided tour...
Making Cyprus: create the Troodos ophiolite and lift it up
In my first post about Cyprus, I introduced some basics about its geologic and human history (https://landscapes-revealed.net/cyprus-a-pop-up-island-between-converging-plates/). In my third post about Cyprus, I described the features found in the Troodos Geopark (https://landscapes-revealed.net/troodos-unesco-global-geopark-in-cyprus/). In this post, I'll explain the geology of the Geopark—how the ophiolite sequence that makes up the park was created and how it got lifted up to...
Troodos UNESCO Global Geopark in Cyprus
In 2015, the Troodos Geopark was officially included in the UNESCO Global Geoparks Network. Located in the central mountains of Cyprus, the Geopark covers an area of about 137,000 hectares or 1,147 km2 (443 miles2). It occupies about 45% of the total area of the Troodos mountain range and 15% of the total area of Cyprus. Elevations range from 300 m (984...
Nearly 6,000 years of Cypriot wine making
The history of winemaking in Cyprus can be traced back nearly 6,000 years. In 2005, a team of archeologists unearthed fragments of round flasks that were dated to the Chalcolithic period. These unwashed pottery fragments showed traces of tartaric acid (a component of wine), proving that the 5,500-year-old vases were used for wine. This provided evidence that the first wines...
Cyprus: a pop-up island between converging plates
We are now in Cyprus, an island located near the eastern edge of the Mediterranean Sea. The Mediterranean is a remnant of the long-lived Tethys Ocean that has been mostly consumed by subduction and other processes as the African and Eurasian plates converged over millions of years. Past posts have described the mountains formed by these converging plates in other...
Aurora Borealis: geomagnetics made visible
The main reason we're here in Iceland for three weeks in winter is because, for his birthday trip, Jay wanted to see and photograph the Aurora Borealis. Fortunately, we have been successful! During the first two weeks we were here, there were many cloudy skies and no chance to view lights in the northern skies, although we still enjoyed other...
Iceland’s 2024 volcanic eruptions—threats to Grindavik and Blue Lagoon
In my last post, I described the flows that emitted from the Fagradalsfjall fissure during the 2012-23 eruptions that heralded a new period of active volcanism in the Reykjanes Volcanic Belt: https://landscapes-revealed.net/return-to-iceland-viewing-lava-from-the-2021-23-eruptions/. At the end of 2023, volcanic eruptions began in a new place. They continued until the end of 2024, and will likely continue in 2025. Background about the...
Return to Iceland—viewing lava from the 2021–23 eruptions
In July 2022, I visited Iceland for the first time with a group of geologists. On August 15, 19, and 20, I posted blogs about this visit. These posts can be found by date or by selecting "Iceland" under Categories. I'll also refer to these posts below. I've now returned in winter with Jay, who wanted to celebrate his big...
Castles, temples and power rocks
I'm back home in Oregon, but can't leave the topic of Japan without revisiting some of the sites Japan is most famous for—castles and temples. At these sites, we were impressed by the intentional choice and position of rocks, often carried over great distances and implying symbolic meaning and power. Here is a sampling. Castle of the Tokugawa shogunate in...
About the Blogger
Karen (here with Mt. Shasta in background) is a geology professor emerita who aims to provide a "pocket geologist" for world travelers. Follow the blog to explore the landscapes of our planet and figure out what causes them to look the way they do.