Santorini, Greece: Shield Volcanoes

When people hear of Santorini, they think of the islands in Greece located in the beautiful waters of the Aegean sea. What many people do not know is that Santorini is in fact a scope of volcanoes, also known as shield volcanoes. Shield volcanoes are easily identifiable because they actually look like volcanoes (“Shield Volcanoes,” 2016). I have actually had the pleasure of visiting Santorini a few years ago and I have included some pictures. Some of the things I have learned about this volcanic island is that because Santorini was only a volcanic island during the Minoan time period, scientists have had figure out the effects of this volcanic island by piecing together evidence (Sullivan 552). The islands are now known as Palea Kameni, Thera, and Therasia and the exact coordinates are 36.4N,
The area of the shield volcanos approximately covers 35.02 sq. miles or approximately 90.69 sq. kilometers. The reason this geological activity occurs is because the African and Aegean plates collide and the African plate subducts under the Aegean Plate (“Santorini, Greece”). This creates the Ionian trench and the volcanoes of Cyclades and one of them is Santorini (“Santorini, Greece”). Santorini had one of its’ largest eruptions around 1645 BC (“The Minoan Eruption,” 2004). It’s actually believed that this eruption may be the story behind the legend of the Lost City of Atlantis (Whipps, 2008). As scientists piece together the evidence of past eruptions, they have found that products such as lava and ash have been produced by this volcano. Other eruptive products include basalt, rhyolite, amphiboles (Friedrich et. al 1998). Although many people visit the area of Santorini, they are always at risk because it is still an active volcano, but all that really remains today is a “water-filled caldera” (Friedrich et. al 1998). The last time Santorini erupted was in 1950 (“How Volcanoes Work,”