什么是火山

中文名称：火山 英文名称：volcano 定义：岩浆活动穿过地壳，到达地面或伴随有水气和灰渣喷出地表，形成特殊结构和锥状形态的山体 地壳之下100至150千米处，有一个“液态区”，区内存在着高温、高压下含气体挥发份的熔融状硅酸盐物质，即岩浆。它一旦从地壳薄弱的地段冲出地表，就形成了火山。火山爆发能喷出多种物质。

火山（volcano）是炽热地心的窗口，是地球上最具爆发性的力量

由火山口和火山锥组成 在地球上已知的“死火山”约有2000座；已发现的“活火山”共有523座,其中陆地上有455座，海底火山有68座。 火山在地球上分布是不均匀的，它们都出现在地壳中的断裂带。就世界范围而言，火山主要集中在环太平洋一带和印度尼西亚向北经缅甸、喜马拉雅山脉、中亚、西亚到地中海一带，现今地球上的 活火山百分之九十九分布都在这两个带上。

火山出现的历史很悠久。有些火山在人类有史以前就喷发过，但现在已不再活动，这样的火山称之为“死火山”；不过也有的“死火山”随着地壳的变动会突然喷发，人们称之为“休眠火山”；人类有史以来，时有喷发的火山，称为“活火山”。 地壳之下100至150千米处，有一个“液态区”，区内存在着高温、高压下含气体挥发份的熔融状硅酸盐物质，即岩浆。它一旦从地壳薄弱的地段冲出地表，就形成了火山。 在地球上已知的“死火山”约有2000座；已发现的“活火山”共有523座,其中陆地上有455座，海底火山有68座。 火山在地球上分布是不均匀的，它们都出现在地壳中的断裂带。就世界范围而言，火山主要集中在环太平洋一带和印度尼西亚向北经缅甸、喜马拉雅山脉、中亚细亚到地中海一带，现今地球上的活火山百分之八十分布都在这两个带上。 火山出现的历史很悠久。有些火山在人类有史以前就喷发过，但现在已不再活动，这样的火山称之为“死火山”；不过也有的“死火山”随着地壳的变动会突然喷发，人们称之为“休眠火山”；人类有史以来，时有喷发的火山，称为“活火山”。 火山活动能喷出多种物质，在喷出的固体物质中，一般有被爆破碎了的岩块、碎屑和火山灰等；在喷出的液体物质中，一般有熔岩流、水、各种水溶液以及水、碎屑物和火山灰混合的泥流等；在喷出的气体物质中，一般有水蒸汽和碳、氢、氮、氟、硫等的氧化物。除此之外，在火山活动中，还常喷射出可见或不可见的光、电、磁、声和放射性物质等，这些物质有时能致人于死地，或使电、仪表等失灵，使飞机、轮船等失事。在距离地面大约32公里的深处存在大量高温液体，其温度之高足以熔化大部分岩石。 岩石熔化时膨胀，需要更大的空间。世界的某些地区，山脉在隆起。这些正在上升的山脉下面的压力在变小，这些山脉下面可能形成一个熔岩（也叫“岩浆”）库。 这种物质沿着隆起造成的裂痕上升。熔岩库里的压力大于它上面的岩石顶盖的压力时，便向外迸发成为一座火山。 喷发时，炽热的气体、液体或固体物质突然冒出。这些物质堆积在开口周围，形成一座锥形山头。“火山口”是火山锥顶部的洼陷，开口处通到地表。锥形山是火山形成的产物。火山喷出的物质主要是气体，但是象渣和灰的大量火山岩和固体物质也喷了出来。 实际上，火山岩是被火山喷发出来的岩浆，当岩浆上升到接近地表的高度是，它的温度和压力开始下降，发生了物理和化学变化，岩浆就变成了火山岩。 火山的形成涉及一系列物理化学过程。地壳上地幔岩石在一定温度压力条件下产生部分熔融并与母岩分离，熔融体通过孔隙或裂隙向上运移，并在一定部位逐渐富集而形成岩浆囊。随着岩浆的不断补给，岩浆囊的岩浆过剩压力逐渐增大。当表壳覆盖层的强度不足以阻止岩浆继续向上运动时，岩浆通过薄弱带向地表上升。在上升过程中溶解在岩浆中挥发份逐渐溶出，形成气泡，当气泡占有的体积分数超过75％时，禁锢在液体中的气泡会迅速释放出来，导致爆炸性喷发，气体释放后岩浆粘度降到很低，流动转变成湍流性质的。如若岩浆粘滞性数较低或挥发份较少，便仅有宁静式溢流。从部分熔融到喷发一系列的物理化学变化的差别形成了形形色色的火山活动。 火山虽然经常给人类带来巨大的灾害，但它也并非一无是处。火山资源的利用也可以带给我们生活的乐趣与便利。一般来说，火山资源主要体现在它的旅游价值、地热利用和火山岩材料方面。火山和地热是一对孪生兄弟，有火山的地方一般就有地热资源。地热能是一种廉价的新能源，同时无污染，因而得到了广泛的应用。现在，从医疗、旅游、农用温室、水产养殖一直到民用采暖、工业加工、发电方面，都可见到地热能的应用。人们曾对卡迈特火山区进行过地热能的计算，那里有成千上万个天然蒸气和热水喷口，平均每秒喷出的热水和蒸气达2万立方米，一年内可从地球内部带出热量40万亿大卡，相当于600百万吨煤的能量。冰岛由于地处火山活动频繁地带，可开发的地热能为450亿千瓦时，地热能年发电量可达72亿千瓦时，那里的人民很好地利用了这一资源，虽然目前开发的仅占其中的7％，但已经给当地人民带来了很多效益。其中，雷克雅未克周围的3座地热电站为15万冰岛人提供热水和电力，而整个冰岛有85％的居民都通过地热取暖。地热资源干净卫生，大大减少了石油等能源进口。自1975年后，冰岛空气质量大为改善。冰岛人还善于提高地热资源的使用效率，包括进行温室蔬菜花草种植、建立全天候室外游泳馆、在人行道和停车场下铺设热水管道以加快冬雪融化等。现在，全世界有十几个国家都在利用地热发电，我国西藏羊八井建立了全国最大地热试验基地，取得了很好的成绩。 火山活动还可以形成多种矿产，最常见的是硫磺矿的形成。陆地喷发的玄武岩，常结晶出自然铜和方解石，海底火山喷发的玄武岩，常可形成规模巨大的铁矿和铜矿。另外，我们熟知的钻石，其形成也和火山有关。玄武岩是分布最广的一种火山岩，同时它又是良好的建筑材料。熔炼后的玄武岩称为“铸石”，可以制成各种板材、器具等。铸石最大的特点是坚硬耐磨、耐酸、耐碱、不导电和可作保温材料。

volcano

1多巴超级火山（位于苏门答腊岛 该火山已熄灭但随时喷发） N 2度34分 E 98度49分

2黄石超级火山（位于美国黄石公园正下方） N 44度26分 W 110度27分

3长谷超级火山（位于美国加利福尼亚东部中心长谷河谷） N 36度53分 W 117度27分

4陶波超级火山（位于新西兰） S 38度48分 E 175度53分

5瓦勒斯超级火山（位于美国新墨西哥州） N 35度57分 W106度26分

6爱拉超级火山（位于日本南部的鹿儿岛）

7特纳普超级火山（位于西伯利亚地区）

1 The dopamine super volcano

2 Yellowstone super volcano

3 Long valley super volcano

4 TaoBo super volcano

5 Wallace super volcano

6 Love pull super volcano

7 Turner general super volcano

以上是世界上的超级大火山

Volcano

This article is about volcanoes For the action movie, see Volcano (movie)

Eruption redirects here For other meanings of the word eruption, see eruption (disambiguation)

A volcano is a geological landform (usually a mountain) where a substance, usually magma (rock of the Earth's interior made molten or liquid by extremely high temperatures along with a reduction in pressure and/or the introduction of water or other volatiles) erupts through the surface of a planet Although there are numerous volcanoes (some very active) on the solar system's rocky planets and moons, on Earth at least, this phenomenon tends to occur near the boundaries of the continental plates However, important exceptions exist in hotspot volcanoes

Smoking Bromo and Semeru volcanoes on Java in IndonesiaThe name "volcano" originates from the name of Vulcan, a god of fire in Roman mythology The study of volcanoes is called vulcanology (or volcanology in some spellings)

Volcanoes

Types of volcanoes

One way of classifying volcanoes is by the type of material erupted, which affects the shape of the volcano If the erupting magma contains a high percentage 65% of silica the lava is called felsic or "Acidic" and tends to be very viscous(not very fluid) and is pushed up in a blob that will solidify relatively quickly Lassen Peak in California is an example This type of volcano has a tendency to explode because it easily plugs Mount Pelée on the island of Martinique is another example

If, on the other hand, the magma contains relatively small amounts of silica, the lava is called mafic or "Basic" and will be very fluid as it erupts, capable of flowing for long distances A good example of a mafic lava flow is the Great flow produced by an eruptive fissure almost in the geographical center of Iceland roughly 8,000 years ago; it flowed all the way to the sea, a distance of 130 kilometers, and covered an area of 800 square km Note that the terms felsic and mafic are sometimes substituted by the older chemistry terms "acidic" and "basic", respectively The latter were thought to be a little misleading, however, and are slowly falling into disuse

Shield volcano structure Hawaii and Iceland are examples of places where volcanoes extrude huge quantities of lava that gradually build a wide mountain with a shield-like profile Their lava flows are generally very hot and very fluid, contributing to long flows The largest lava shield on Earth, Mauna Loa, is 9,000 m tall (it sits on the sea floor), 120 km in diameter and forms part of the Island of Hawai Olympus Mons is a shield volcano on Mars planet, and the tallest mountain in the known solar system

Smaller versions of the "lava shield" include the 'lava dome' (tholoid), 'lava cone', and 'lava mound'

Volcanic cones or cinder cones result from eruptions that throw out mostly small pieces of rock that build up around the vent These can be relatively short-lived eruptions that produce a cone-shaped hill perhaps 30 to 300 m high

Stratovolcano or composite volcanoes are tall conical mountains composed of both lava flows and ejected material, which form the stratumstrata which give rise to the name Classic examples include Mt Fuji in Japan and Mount Mayon in the Philippines

Supervolcano is the popular term for large volcanoes that usually have a large caldera and can potentially produce devastation on a continental scale and cause major global weather pattern changes Potential candidates include Yellowstone National Park and Lake Toba, but are hard to identify given that there is no formal definition of the term

Submarine volcanoes are common features on certain zones of the ocean floor Some are active at the present time and, in shallow water, disclose their presence by blasting steam and rock-debris high above the surface of the sea Many others lie at such great depths that the tremendous weight of the water above them results in high, confining pressure and prevents the formation and explosive release of steam and gases Even very large, deepwater eruptions may not disturb the ocean surface

Mud volcanoes are formations which are often not associated with known magmatic activity Active mud volcanoes tend to involve temperatures much lower than those of igneous volcanoes, except when a mud volcano is actually a vent of an igneous volcano This article describes igneous volcanoes

Volcanoes are usually situated either at the boundaries between tectonic plates or over geology hotspots Volcanoes may be either dormant (having no activity) or active (near constant expulsion and occasional eruptions), and change state unpredictably

Volcanoes on land often take the form of flat cones, as the expulsions build up over the years, or in short-lived volcanic cone, cinder cone]]s Under water, volcanoes often form rather steep pillars and in due time break the ocean surface in new islands

Behavior of volcanoes

A volcanic eruption can be devastating for the local wildlife, as well as the human populationThere are many different kinds of volcanic activity and eruptions:

phreatic eruptions (steam)

explosive eruption of high-silica lava (eg, rhyolite)

effusive eruption of low-silica lava (eg, basalt)

pyroclastic flows

lahars (debris flow)

carbon dioxide emission

All of these activities can pose a hazard to humans

Volcanic activity is often accompanied by earthquakes, hot springs, fumaroles, mud pots and geysers Low-magnitude earthquakes often precede eruptions

Active, Dormant, or Extinct

Surprisingly, there is no consensus among volcanologists on how to define an "active" volcano The lifespan of a volcano can vary from months to several million years, making such a distinction sometimes meaningless when compared to the lifespans of humans or even civilizations For example, many of Earth's volcanoes have erupted dozens of times in the past few thousand years but are not currently showing signs of activity Given the long lifespan of such volcanoes, they are very active By our lifespans, however, they are not Complicating the definition are volcanoes that become restless but do not actually erupt Are these volcanoes active

Scientists usually consider a volcano active if it is currently erupting or showing signs of unrest, such as unusual earthquake activity or significant new gas emissions Many scientists also consider a volcano active if it has erupted in historic time It is important to note that the span of recorded history differs from region to region; in the Mediterranean, recorded history reaches back more than 3,000 years but in the Pacific Northwest of the United States, it reaches back less than 300 years, and in Hawaii, little more than 200 years

Dormant volcanoes are those that are not currently active (as defined above), but could become restless or erupt again

Extinct volcanoes are those that scientists consider unlikely to erupt again Whether a volcano is truly extinct is often difficult to determine Since calderas have lifespans sometimes measured in millions of years, a caldera that has not produced an eruption in tens of thousands of years is likely to be considered dormant instead of extinct

For example, the Yellowstone Caldera (considered a Supervolcano) in Yellowstone National Park is at least 2 million years old and hasn't erupted violently for approximately 640,000 years — although there has been some minor activity as relatively recent as 70,000 years ago For this reason, scientists do not consider the Yellowstone Caldera as extinct In fact, because the caldera has frequent earthquakes, a very active geothermal system (ie, the entirety of the geothermal activity found in Yellowstone National Park), and rapid rates of ground uplift, many scientists consider it to be a very active volcano

Volcanoes on Earth

Main article: List of volcanoes

Mount St Helens erupting in 1980Mount Baker (Washington, USA)

Cold Bay Volcano (Alaska, USA)

El Chichon/El Chichonal, (Chiapas, Mexico)

Citlaltépetl/Pico de Orizaba, (Veracruz/Puebla, Mexico)

Cotopaxi (Ecuador)

Mount Fuji (Honshu, Japan)

Mount Hood (Oregon, USA)

Mount Erebus (Ross Island, Antarctica)

Etna (Sicily, Italy)

Krafla (Iceland)

Hekla (Iceland)

Kick-'em-Jenny, (Grenada)

Kilauea (Hawaii, USA)

Kluchevskaya (Kamchatka, Russia)

Krakatoa (Rakata, Indonesia)

Mauna Kea (Hawaii, USA)

Mauna Loa (Hawaii, USA)

El Misti (Arequipa, Peru)

Novarupta (Alaska, USA)

Paricutín (Michoacán, Mexico)

Mount Pinatubo (Luzon Island, Philippines)

Popocatépetl (Mexico-Puebla state line, Mexico)

Santorini (Santorini islands, Greece)

Soufriere Hills volcano, (Montserrat)

Stromboli (Aeolian Islands, Italy)

Mount Rainier (Washington, USA)

Mount Shasta (California, USA)

Mount St Helens (Washington, USA)

Surtsey (Iceland)

Tambora (Sumbawa, Indonesia)

Teide (Tenerife, Canary Islands, Spain)

White Island (Bay of Plenty, New Zealand)

Mount Vesuvius (Bay of Naples, Italy)

Volcanoes elsewhere in the solar system

Olympus Mons (Latin, "Mount Olympus") is the tallest known mountain in our solar system, located on the planet MarsThe Earth's Moon has no large volcanoes, but does have many volcanic features such as rilles and domes

The planet Venus is believed to be volcanically active, and its surface is 90% basalt, indicating that volcanism plays a major role in shaping its surface Lava flows are widespread and many of its surface features are attributed to exotic forms of volcanism not present on Earth Other Venusian phenomena, such as changes in the planet's atmosphere and observations of lightning, have been attributed to ongoing volcanic eruptions

There are several extinct volcanoes on Mars, four of which are vast shield volcanoes far bigger than any on Earth:

Arsia Mons

Ascraeus Mons

Hecates Tholus

Olympus Mons

Pavonis Mons

These volcanoes have been extinct for many millions of years, but the European Mars Express spacecraft has found evidence that volcanic activity may have occurred on Mars in the recent past as well

Jupiter's moon Io is the most volcanic object in the solar system, due to tidal interaction with Jupiter It is covered with volcanoes that erupt sulfur, sulfur dioxide and silicate rock, with the result that the moon is constantly being resurfaced Its lavas are the hottest known anywhere in the solar system, with temperatures exceeding 1800 K (1500 °C) In February 2001, the largest recorded volcanic eruptions in the solar system occurred on Io [1] See the list of geological features on Io for a list of named volcanoes on the moon

The Cassini-Huygens mission has found evidence of a methane-spewing cryovolcano on the Saturnian moon Titan This volcanism is believed to be a significant source of the methane found in its atmosphere [2]

Many 'ice volcanoes' have been found on Triton, a moon of Neptune; they are believed to eject liquid nitrogen, dust, or methane compounds

The Kuiper Belt Object Quaoar is also suspected of having ice volcanoes

Volcanology

Volcano formation

Diagram of a destructive margin causing earthquakes and a volcanic eruptionLike most of the interior of the earth, the movements and dynamics of magma are poorly understood However, it is known that an eruption usually follows movement of magma upwards into the solid layer (the earth's crust) beneath a volcano and occupying a magma chamber Eventually, magma in the chamber is forced upwards and flows out across the planet surface as lava, or the rising magma can heat water in the surrounding landform and cause explosive discharges of steam; either this or escaping gases from the magma can produce forceful ejections of rocks, cinders, volcanic glass, and/or volcanic ash While always displaying powerful forces, eruptions can vary from effusive to extremely explosive

Most volcanoes on the land are formed at destructive plate margins: where oceanic crust is forced below the continental crust because oceanic crust is denser than continental crust Friction between these moving plates will cause the oceanic crust to melt, and reduced density will force the newly formed magma to rise As the magma rises through weak areas in the continental crust it may eventually erupt as one or more volcanoes For example, Mount St Helens is found inland from the margin between the oceanic Juan de Fuca Plate and the continental North American Plate

Shiprock, New Mexico a volcanic neck in the distance, with radiating dike on its south side Photo credit: USGS Digital Data SeriesA volcano generally presents itself to the imagination as a mountain sending forth from its summit great clouds of smoke with vast sheets of flame The truth is that a volcano seldom emits either smoke or flame, although various combinations of hydrogen, carbon, oxygen, and sulfur do sometimes ignite What is mistaken for smoke consists of vast volumes of fine dust, mingled with steam and other vapors, chiefly sulfurous Most of what appears to be flames is the glare from the erupting materials, glowing because of their high temperature; this glare reflects off the clouds of dust and steam, resembling fire

Perhaps the most conspicuous part of a volcano is the crater, a basin of a roughly circular form within which occurs a vent (or vents) from which magma erupts as gases, lava, and ejecta A crater can be of large dimensions, and sometimes of vast depth Very large features of this sort are termed calderas Some volcanoes consist of a crater alone, with scarcely any mountain at all; but in the majority of cases the crater is situated on top of a mountain (the volcano), which can tower to an enormous height Volcanoes that terminate in a principal crater are usually of a conical form

Volcanic cones are usually smaller features composed of loose ash and cinder, with occasional masses of stone which have been tossed violently into the air by the eruptive forces (and are thus called ejecta) Within the crater of a volcano there may be numerous cones from which vapours are continually issuing, with occasional volleys of ashes and stones In some volcanoes these cones form lower down the mountain, along rift zones or fractures When the cone is eroded these rifts or lava filled fractures remain as radial near vertical dikes of volcanic rock For example the radiating dikes at Shiprock in NW New Mexico

Tectonic environments of volcanoes

Volcanoes can principally be found in three tectonic environments

Hotspot and types of plate boundaries

Constructive plate margins

These are by far the most common volcanoes on the Earth They are also the least frequently seen, because most of their activity takes place beneath the surface of the oceans Along the whole of the oceanic ridge system are irregularly spaced surface eruptions, and more frequent sub-surface intrusions without surface expression The large majority of these are only known about at surface because of earthquakes as part of the eruptions/ intrusions, or occasionally if passing shipping happens to notice unusually high water temperatures or chemical precipitates in the seawater In a few places oceanic ridge activity has lead to the volcanoes coming up to the surface - Saint Helena and Tristan da Cunha in the Atlantic Ocean; the Galapagos Islands in the Pacific Ocean, allowing them to be studied in some detail But most activity takes place in considerable water depths Iceland is also on a ridge, but has different characteristics than a simple volcano

It could be argued that the volcanoes of the Great Rift Valley system of East Africa are modified constructive margin volcanoes However the modifications caused by the presence of thick continental crust are very substantial, and the magmas produced are very different from the typically very homogenous MORB (Mid-Ocean Ridge Basalt) that makes up the huge majority of constructive margin volcanoes

Destructive plate margins

These are the most visible and well-known types of volcanoes on earth, forming above the subduction zones where (oceanic) plates dive into the Earth to their destruction Their magmas are typically "calc-alkaline" as a result of their origins in the upper parts of altered ocean plate materials, mixed with sediments, and processed through variable thicknesses of more-or-less continental crust The heavier plate sinks under the lighter one and the friction from the melting plate causes magma to force it's way out through a crack in the crust Unsurprisingly, their compositions are much more varied than at constructive margins

Hotspot situations

1984 Eruption at Krafla, IcelandHotspots were originally a catch-all for volcanoes that didn't fit into one of the above two categories, but these days this refers to a more specific circumstance - where an isolated plume of hot mantle material intersects the underside of crust (oceanic or continental), leading to a volcanic center that is not obviously connected with a plate margin The classic example is the Hawaiian chain of volcanoes and seamounts; Yellowstone is cited as another classic example, in this case the intersection is with the underside of continental crust Iceland is sometimes cited as yet a third classical example, but complicated by the coincidence of a hotspot intersecting an oceanic ridge constructive margin

There are debates about the simple "hotspot" concept, since theorists cannot agree on whether the "hot mantle plumes" originate in the upper mantle or in the lower mantle Meanwhile, field geologists and petrologists see considerable variation in the detailed chemistry of one hotspot's magmas versus a second hotspot's magmas On the third hand, high-resolution seismology of different hotspots is yielding different pictures of the deep sub-structure of Hawaii versus Iceland There is no detailed consensus about how to interpret these varied results, and it seems plausible that eventually several different sub-types of hotspots will be identified

Predicting eruptions

Science has not yet been able to predict with absolute certainty when a volcanic eruption will take place, but significant progress in judging when one is probable has been made in recent time

Mount St Helens erupted explosively on May 18, 1980 at 8:32 am PDTVolcanologists use the following to forecast eruptions

Seismicity

Seismic activity (small earthquakes and tremors) always occurs as volcanoes awaken and prepare to erupt Some volcanoes normally have continuing low-level seismic activity, but an increase can signify an eruption The types of earthquakes that occur and where they start and end are also key signs Volcanic seismicity has three major forms: short-period earthquakes, long-period earthquakes, and harmonic tremor

Short-period earthquakes are like normal fault-related earthquakes They are related to the fracturing of brittle rock as the magma forces its way upward These short-period earthquakes signify the growth of a magma body near the surface

Long-period earthquakes are believed to indicate increased gas pressure in a volcano's "plumbing system" They are similar to the clanging sometimes heard in your home's plumbing system These oscillations are the equivalent of acoustic vibrations in a chamber, in the context of magma chambers within the volcanic dome

Patterns of seismicity are complex and often difficult to interpret However, increasing activity is very worrisome, especially if long-period events become dominant and episodes of harmonic tremor appear

In December 2000, scientists at the National Center for Prevention of Disasters in Mexico City predicted an eruption within two days from Popocatépetl, on the outskirts of Mexico City Their prediction used research done by Dr Bernard Chouet, a Swiss vulacanologist working at the Unite

（岩浆）。

高中地理地壳地幔知识点总结:(地壳)是地球的固体外壳，是由一层层（岩石）构成的，越到深处，(密度、压强)越大，（温度）越高，那里的物质热的像烧熔了的玻璃一样，叫做（岩浆）。

岩浆（Magma）是指地下熔融或部分熔融的岩石。当岩浆喷出地表后，则被称为熔岩（Lava）。喷出地表的岩浆成为喷出岩（Extrusive rocks）；侵入地壳中的称为侵入岩（Intrusive rocks）。

火山爆发的岩浆：

汤加海域发生火山喷发并引发海啸，对汤加造成了灾难性的影响。浓厚的火山灰遮天蔽日，使得整个国家通讯中断，近乎“失联”，牵动着全球人类的心。

而在人类的文化中，火山与岩浆往往意味着灾难。古罗马时期的人们便将火山爆发与火与工匠之神伏尔甘（Vulcānus）联系在一起，当火山爆发时便是伏尔甘在发怒，英文火山（Volcano）一词的词根便由此而来。他的宝物是世间最大的火山，意大利南部的武尔卡诺火山由此得名。

这个神明的名字可以追溯到克里特岛的神话传说，公元前1500年前后，距离克里特岛70公里的火山爆发，这一火山爆发规模超过了1815年的坦博拉火山爆发，导致克里特岛上的米诺斯文明迅速衰落，公元前1420年，克里特岛被北方落后的迈锡尼人征服，关于火山的神话传说可能由此被继承，代价是一个文明的毁灭。