What Lies Beneath? Discoveries from Deep-Sea Drilling at Santorini Volcano (IODP Expedition 398)
20 October
Monday 20 October (Indoor Meeting): 'What Lies Beneath? Discoveries from Deep-Sea Drilling at Santorini Volcano (IODP Expedition 398).' Speaker: Ralf Gertisser, Volcanologist / Igneous Petrologist, Keele University. Since the 1960s, much of our understanding of the Earth's ocean floor has come from systematic scientific ocean drilling, carried out through long-standing international initiatives - most recently the International Ocean Discovery Program (IODP) - using iconic research vessels such as the Glomar Challenger and, more recently, the JOIDES Resolution. This presentation will focus on IODP Expedition 398, offering an inside look at the shipboard scientific operations aboard the JOIDES Resolution and sharing key findings that shed new light on the fiery geological history of Santorini and its neighbouring volcanoes.
Biographical details
Ralf grew up in a small town in SW Germany at the edge of the Black Forest, and studied geology close to home at the University of Freiburg. This was followed by a PhD (awarded in 2001) at the University of Freiburg on Merapi volcano, one of the most active volcanoes in Indonesia. He moved to the UK to take up a postdoctoral research fellow position at the Open University in Milton Keynes, working on the 1815 eruption of Tambora volcano, and Ralf delivered a talk on this subject to BCGS in September 2015. During this time, During this time he also spent a couple of months at the University of the Azores in Ponta Delgada working on the volcanic stratigraphy of Terceira as well as on Furnas volcano on Sao Miguel.
Since 2005, Ralf has been at Keele University, where he is currently a Reader in Mineralogy and Petrology, teaching mainly mineralogy, petrology and volcanology in the geology programme, and conducting research at volcanoes in Indonesia, Japan, Italy, the Azores and Greece (Santorini). In December 2022, he had the opportunity to take part in the International Ocean Discovery Program (IODP) Expedition 398 to the central Hellenic volcanic arc, Greece, aboard the JOIDES Resolution - the topic of this talk.
Talk Abstract
Since the 1960s, much of our understanding of the Earth's ocean floor has come from systematic scientific ocean drilling, carried out through long-standing international initiatives—most recently the International Ocean Discovery Program (IODP)—using iconic research vessels such as the Glomar Challenger and, more recently, the JOIDES Resolution.
From 11 December 2022 to 10 February 10 2023, IODP Expedition 398 drilled 12 sites within and around the Santorini caldera in the central Hellenic volcanic arc of Greece. The drilling penetrated the thick basin fills of the crustal rift system that hosts the Christiana–Santorini–Kolumbo (CSK) volcanic field, as well as the volcano-sedimentary sequence within the Santorini caldera.
The primary objectives of the expedition were to document the volcanic history of the CSK volcanic field; investigate the interplay between volcanism, tectonics, and sea-level change; understand the dynamics of shallow submarine silicic eruptions; and validate the seismic stratigraphy of the Santorini caldera.
This presentation will focus on IODP Expedition 398, offering an inside look at the shipboard scientific operations aboard the JOIDES Resolution and sharing key findings that shed new light on the fiery geological history of Santorini and its neighbouring volcanoes.
