Reconstruction of the paleo-coastline of Santorini Island (Greece), after the 1613 BC volcanic eruption: A GIS-based quantitative methodology

Abstract

A catastrophic volcanic explosion took place in Thera/Santorini island around 1613 BC, known as the ‘Minoan’ eruption. Many papers have dealt with the shape of the shoreline of the island before the eruption, but none with the shape of the shoreline exactly after it, assuming that it would be the same with the contemporary one. However, this is not correct due to the wave erosion. In this paper, a new DEM was constructed, covering both land and submarine morphology, then topographic sections were drawn around the island. Using these sections, the ‘missing parts’ (sea-wave erosion) were calculated, the shoreline was reconstructed as it was one day after the eruption and finally the erosion rate was calculated.