SANTORini's seafloor volcanic observatorY

  • Nomikou, Paraskevi (PI)
  • Escartin, Javier (CoI)
  • Rizzo, Andrea Luca (CoI)
  • Mertzimekis, Theodoros (CoI)
  • Papanikolaou, Dimitrios (CoI)
  • Kilias, Stephanos (CoI)
  • Antoniou, Varvara (CoI)
  • Karantzalos, Konstantinos (CoI)
  • Grammatikopoulos, Lazaros (CoI)
  • Krokos, Mel (CoI)
  • Italiano, Francesco (CoI)
  • Petersen, Sven (CoI)
  • Hannington, Mark (CoI)
  • Polymenakou, Paraskevi (CoI)

    Project Details

    Description

    Submarine hydrothermal systems in active volcanic ridges and arcs exhibit highly dynamic nature. Of particular interest are those located in shallow
    water hosted by subduction-related arc volcanoes as found in the active
    Hellenic Volcanic Arc (South Aegean Sea). Owing to their vicinity to
    highly populated/touristic areas (e.g. Santorini) they pose significant
    risks, while our knowledge remains limited on the repercussions of this
    type of hydrothermal activity as source of volcanic heat, potentially
    toxic metals/minerals and climate-critical gases as CO2. To address such
    risks long-term, continuous and high-resolution monitoring is required.
    This can be achieved only through in situ observatories, which will also
    improve our understanding of the evolution of ocean chemistry and
    volcanism. No coherent and integrated strategy exists in Mediterranean Sea
    for monitoring such submarine volcanic activity thus being able to
    remediate promptly related environmental, climate, and social hazards.
    SANTORY will establish a cutting-edge seafloor observatory using
    innovative marine technology (integrating hyperspectral and temperature
    sensors, a radiation spectrometer, fluid/gas samplers and pressure gauges)
    within the most-active submarine Mediterranean volcano, Kolumbo. It is
    located just 7 km NE (500m b.s.l.) of the well-known Santorini volcanic
    island and its hydrothermal system emits mantle-derived fluids consisting
    of nearly pure gaseous CO2 together with aqueous fluids venting at 220oC.
    SANTORY will build an open-access data hub using innovative visualization
    and virtual reality technologies to present the volcanic dynamics driving
    scientific knowledge advances and communicating hazards to the society in
    easy to understand ways. The outcomes of SANTORY will provide the impetus
    for much needed multidisciplinary collaboration in Greece and across EU
    and will be a first step for understanding of such natural laboratories to
    underpin development of next-generation shallow volcanic seafloor
    observatories.
    AcronymSANTORY
    StatusFinished
    Effective start/end date4/05/213/05/24

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