National
Geographic: Earlier this year, in her Down to Earth column
"Will
she blow? Magma chamber inflation at Santorini caldera,"
Physics Today's Earth sciences correspondent Rachel
Berkowitz wrote about the recent geodetic unrest in the Aegean
Sea island group. Now satellite radar technology has confirmed
the source of the problem, writes Brian Handwerk for
National Geographic. Apparently, the magma chamber
under the volcano at the heart of the caldera swelled because a
huge amount of molten lava rushed into it. Over the past year
or so, the event caused Santorini island's surface to expand
upward and outward, and residents have been noticing their wine
glasses vibrating and strange smells in the air. However,
because the earthquake activity and bulging have slowed over
the past few months, geologists don't believe that any major
eruption is imminent.
