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When the volcano Tambora erupted in Indonesia in 1815, as many as 100,000 people perished as a result of the blast and an ensuing famine caused by the destruction of rice fields on Sumbawa and neighboring islands. Gases and dust particles ejected into the atmosphere changed weather patterns around the world, resulting in the infamous ''year without a summer'' in North America, food riots in Europe, and a widespread cholera epidemic. And the gloomy weather inspired Mary Shelley to write the gothic novel "Frankenstein." This book tells the story of nine such epic volcanic events, explaining the related geology for the general reader and exploring the myriad ways in which the earth's volcanism has affected human history. Zeilinga de Boer and Sanders describe in depth how volcanic activity has had long-lasting effects on societies, cultures, and the environment. After introducing the origins and mechanisms of volcanism, the authors draw on ancient as well as modern accounts--from folklore to poetry and from philosophy to literature. Beginning with the Bronze Age eruption that caused the demise of Minoan Crete, the book tells the human and geological stories of eruptions of such volcanoes as Vesuvius, Krakatau, Mount Pelee, and Tristan da Cunha. Along the way, it shows how volcanism shaped religion in Hawaii, permeated Icelandic mythology and literature, caused widespread population migrations, and spurred scientific discovery. From the prodigious eruption of Thera more than 3,600 years ago to the relative burp of Mount St. Helens in 1980, the results of volcanism attest to the enduring connections between geology and human destiny.
E-Book Content
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Volcanoes in Human History
Volcanoes in Human History The Far-Reaching Effects of Major Eruptions
Jelle Zeilinga de Boer and Donald Theodore Sanders
princeton university press Princeton and Oxford
Copyright © 2002 by Jelle Zeilinga de Boer and Donald Theodore Sanders Published by Princeton University Press, 41 William Street, Princeton, New Jersey 08540 In the United Kingdom: Princeton University Press, 3 Market Place, Woodstock, Oxfordshire OX20 1SY All Rights Reserved.
Fourth printing, and first paperback printing, 2005 Paperback ISBN 0-691-11838-8 The cloth edition of this book has been cataloged as follows Library of Congress Control Number 2001095818 ISBN 0-691-05081-3 British Library Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available This book has been composed in Palatino, Fairfield, and Copperplate by Princeton Editorial Associates, Inc., Scottsdale, Arizona Printed on acid-free paper. ∞ pup.princeton.edu Printed in the United States of America 5 7 9 10 8 6 4 The following publishers have generously given permission to use quotations from copyrighted works. From “The Control of Nature,” by John McPhee. Reprinted by permission; copyright © 1988 by John McPhee. Originally published in The New Yorker. All rights reserved. From The Letters of the Younger Pliny, translated by Betty Radice (Penguin Classics, 1963), copyright © Betty Radice, 1963, 1969. Reproduced by permission of Penguin Books Ltd. From Volcanoes of the Earth, Revised Edition, by Fred M. Bullard, copyright © 1976. By permission of the University of Texas Press. From Surtsey by Sigurdur Thorarinsson, copyright © 1964, 1966 by Almenna Bokafelagid. Used by permission of Viking Penguin, a division of Penguin Putnam Inc. From “Dynamic Mixing of Water and Lava,” by S. A. Colgate and Thorbjörn Sigurgeirsson. Reprinted by permission of Nature (244, August 31, 1973: 552), copyright © 1973 Macmillan Magazines Ltd.
To Joe Webb Peoples— teacher, mentor, and friend to both authors
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Foreword by Robert D. Ballard Preface Acknowledgments Table of Conversions
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Contents
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