Volcanic discovery prompts call for global cooperation
Scientists from the University of St Andrews have discovered that the eruption of the Zavaritskii volcano on Simushir Island in 1831 caused global cooling and famines. They are now calling for a coordinated international response in case of another eruption.
A team of scientists from the University of St Andrews has solved the mystery of a volcanic eruption that nearly 200 years ago led to global cooling and famines. Researchers had puzzled for years over the exact location of the eruption. Although they knew such an event had occurred, they were unable to determine where it had happened. Finally, they succeeded in pinpointing the location, thanks to Dr. Will Hutchison from the University of St Andrews.
Scientists' discovery
The eruption took place in the spring or summer of 1831. Scientists, under Hutchison's leadership, analyzed ice cores and identified a precise match of ash particles. The task was challenging because the size of ash fragments in ice cores is about ten times smaller than a human hair.
Dr. Hutchison emphasized that only recently have techniques been developed to extract microscopic ash fragments and analyze their chemical composition in detail. "We analyzed the ice chemistry with high temporal resolution, which allowed us to precisely determine the timing of the eruption in the spring-summer of 1831," said Dr. Hutchison.
International cooperation
The research required extensive cooperation with colleagues from Japan and Russia, who provided samples from distant volcanoes. "The moment in the lab when we analysed the two ashes together, one from the volcano and one from the ice core, was a genuine eureka moment," added Dr. Hutchison. Thanks to this cooperation, it was determined that the analyzed samples matched those from the Kuril Islands—specifically on Simushir Island.
Simushir Island, currently controlled by Russia, served as a strategic military base during the Cold War, when the Soviets used it as a secret base for submarines. The research highlights how poorly studied the Kuril Islands are, even though they are highly volcanic. It is on these islands that the volcano, which contributed to global cooling 200 years ago, is located.
Dr. Hutchison noted that there are many similar volcanoes, making it difficult to predict the next large-scale eruptions. "As scientists and as a society, we need to consider how to coordinate an international response when the next large eruption, like the one in 1831, happens," he urged.
