Title: Ice core and palaeoclimatic evidence for the timing and nature of the great mid-13th century volcanic eruption Author: Clive Oppenheimer
Ice cores from both the Arctic and Antarctic record a massive volcanic eruption in around ad 1258. The inter-hemispheric transport of ash and sulphate aerosol suggests a low-latitude explosive eruption, but the volcano responsible is not known. This is remarkable given estimates of the magnitude of the event, which range up to 5 x 1014-2 x 1015 kg (~200-800 km3 of dense magma), which would make this the largest eruption of the historic period, and one of the very largest of the Holocene. The associated collapse caldera could have had a diameter up to 10-30 km. Palaeoclimate reconstructions indicate very cold austral and boreal summers in ad 1257-59, consistent with known patterns of continental summer cooling following tropical, sulphur-rich explosive eruptions. This suggests an eruption in ad 1257, producing a stronger climate forcing than hitherto recognised.
The volcano responsible for the world's largest ever eruption in 1257 has been discovered in Indonesia. Researchers have determined that the explosion was from the Samalas volcano, which is part of the Mount Rinjani Volcanic Complex on Lombok Island. The scientists, whose findings are published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, say the volcanic eruption was the biggest in the last 7,000 years, yet its origin has baffled glaciologists, volcanologists, and climatologists for decades. Read more
Mystery AD1257 eruption traced to Lombok, Indonesia
The mystery event was so large its chemical signature is recorded in the ice of both the Arctic and the Antarctic. European medieval texts talk of a sudden cooling of the climate, and of failed harvests. In the PNAS journal, an international team points the finger at the Samalas Volcano on Lombok Island, Indonesia. Read more
A massive eruption of Rinjani in 1258 CE may have triggered the Little Ice Age. The Rinjani caldera forming eruption is thought to have occurred in 1258 CE. Dated to "late spring or summer of 1257," this eruption is now considered the likely source of high concentrations of sulfur found in widely dispersed ice core samples and may have been "the most powerful volcanic blast since humans learned to write." Read more