Friday, January 3, 2025

Simushir

Simushir blew up AD 1831 (aka "Zavaritskiy" but I can't spell it). This solves a longstanding question about a bad Northern winter that seems less bad south of the Equator; implying something like Hekla. Tropical blasts like Tamboro (spellings vary) tend toward global problems.

On the other side of our globe, a New Zealander blast like Taupo would appear to inflict minimal damage up north. Although the Hatepe eruption was spectacular. This coincides, within two decades, with shah Ardashir I and the abortive reign of Alexander Severus. Was the German invasion driven by poor weather?

In AD 1831 nothing happened on Iceland, forcing research afield. Out East, nobody lived on Simushir who survived; nobody lives there today, although the Russians claim it. There also seems not to have been a tsunami. So we don't get - say - Japanese records or Native tradition such as AD 1700.

Aleutian and Kuril volcanism seems understudied. Alaska is doing a bit better, witness Aniakchak II 1628 BC and Okmok 43 BC. It may be political inasmuch as disputed territories present a visa nightmare. Also who wants to spend much time in a semitundra volcano.

BACKDATE 1/6. UPDATE 11/10/26, hey the paper's free! SinusHub further notes that the 1831 caldera is just the most recent. These 'splody mountains do tend to be repeat customers: Vesuvius, Thera... Yellowstone. The largest boom was like 18kBC but another one carved another in-between caldera, undated.

I also (now) think the Russian navy was a force in that generation, so would like to know what is recorded around the Kurils. Or what the Matsumae of Sapporo saw, even if their shogun was nappin'.

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