'Mystery volcano' that cooled Earth in 1831 finally identified
What's the story
After nearly two centuries of speculation, scientists have finally identified the "mystery volcano" that caused a major climate cooling event in 1831.
The volcano, dubbed Zavaritskii, is situated on Simushir Island in the Kuril Islands archipelago—a region that is disputed between Russia and Japan.
The findings were published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences journal.
Climate change
Zavaritskii's eruption and its global impact
The eruption of Zavaritskii in 1831 caused Northern Hemisphere temperatures to drop by about 1 degree Celsius.
This climatic event coincided with the Little Ice Age, one of Earth's coldest periods in the last 10,000 years.
Until now, scientists knew when this eruption occurred but were unable to pinpoint its exact location.
Research breakthrough
Ice cores from Greenland unlock the mystery
The breakthrough in identifying Zavaritskii as the "mystery volcano" came from analyzing ice cores from Greenland.
These cores contained sulfur isotopes, volcanic glass shards, and ash grains dating back to 1831-1834.
The research team employed radioactive dating, geochemistry, and computer modeling to trace these particles back to their origin.
Location challenge
Zavaritskii's remote location challenges historical understanding
Dr. William Hutchison, who led the study and is a principal research fellow at the University of St. Andrews in the UK, emphasized the difficulties in deciphering eruptive histories of distant volcanoes such as Zavaritskii.
He said, "For many of Earth's volcanoes, particularly those in remote areas, we have a very poor understanding of their eruptive history."
The last known eruption from this volcano was around 800 BC.
Record scarcity
Limited historical records obscure volcanic activity understanding
The study highlights how sparse historical records can impede our understanding of volcanic activity.
Hutchison explained that only a handful of ship diaries recorded these islands every few years back then.
Since Zavaritskii is located in a remote area between Japan and Russia, historical records are few and far between.
This resulted in earlier assumptions connecting the 1831 eruption to other equatorial volcanoes, like Babuyan Claro in the Philippines.