The great 1815 eruption of Tambora and future risks from large‐scale volcanism. (31st July 2015)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Gertisser, R.; Self, S.
• Is Part Of: Geology today. Volume 33:Number 4(2017)
• Page Start: 132
• Page End: 136
• Publication Date: 2015-07-31
• Subjects: Geology -- Periodicals; 551
• DOI: 10.1111/gto.12099
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0266-6979

Abstract

Abstract : The year 2015 marks the bicentenary of the largest eruption in recent historic times: the 10–11 April 1815 eruption of Mount Tambora, Indonesia. Two hundred years after the eruption, an incomplete or inaccurate record of large eruptions over the past millennia, and uncertainties in determining the true sizes of eruptions, hamper our ability to predict when the next eruption of this scale may occur. Such events would have catastrophic effects locally and, possibly, world‐wide. The problem is compounded by a lack of detailed knowledge of how and over what timescales large magma reservoirs that feed such eruptions grow and assemble, and of the surface manifestations of these processes recorded through geophysical or geochemical monitoring techniques.