TEPHRA FROM THE MINOAN ERUPTION OF SANTORINI IN SEDIMENTS OF THE BLACK-SEA

THE explosive eruption of Santorini volcano in the Aegean Sea about 3, 300 years ago is of considerable archaeological and volcanological sig nificance1-5. Here we report the discovery of tephra from this Minoan event in laminated sediments of the Black Sea. This finding provides c onstraints on the distribution of debris from the eruption. We estimat e a minimum fallout area of 2 x 10(6) km2 extending from the Black Sea in the north to the southeastern Mediterranean Sea. The main dispersa l axis trends through southern Turkey, in agreement with other studies of Minoan tephra6,7. The tephra deposits should provide a useful refe rence horizon for assessing the chronology of Black Sea sediments whic h has been much debated8-15.