Publication Date:
2020-10-13
Description:
Volcanoes hold a fascination for human beings and, before they were
recorded by literate observers, eruptions were portrayed in art, were
recalled in legend and became incorporated into religious practices: being
viewed as agents of punishment, bounty or intimidation depending upon
their state of activity and the culture involved. In the Middle East the
earliest record dates from the third millennium BCE and knowledge of
volcanoes increased progressively over time. In the first century CE
written records noted nine volcanoes in the Mediterranean region plus
Mount Cameroon in West Africa, yet by 1380 AD the record only totalled
48, with volcanoes in Japan, Indonesia and Iceland being added. After this
the list of continued to increase, but important regions such as New
Zealand and Hawaii were only added during the last 200 years. Only from
1900 did the rate of growth decline significantly, but it is sobering to recall
that in the twentieth century major eruptions have occurred from
volcanoes that were considered inactive or extinct, examples including:
Mount Lamington—Papua New Guinea, 1951; Mount Arenal—Costa
Rica, 1968 and Nyos—Cameroon, 1986. Although there were instances
where the human impact of historical eruptions were studied in detail, with examples including the 1883 eruption of Krakatau and 1943–1952
eruption of Parícutin, these were exceptions and before 1980 there was a
significant knowledge gap about both the short and long-term effects of
major eruptions on societies. Following a global review, this chapter
provides a discussion of the ways in which information has been collected,
compiled and disseminated from the earliest times until the 1980s in two
case study areas: the Azores Islands (Portugal) and southern Italy. In Italy
information on eruptions stretches back to prehistoric times and has
become progressively better known over more than 2,000 years, yet even
here there remain significant gaps in the record even for events that took
place between 1900 and 1990. In contrast, located in the middle of the
Atlantic, the Azores have been isolated for much of their history and
illustrate the difficulties involved in using indigenous sources to compile,
not only assessments of impact, but also at a more basic level a complete
list of historical events with accurate dates.
Description:
Published
Description:
1-25
Description:
1V. Storia eruttiva
Description:
N/A or not JCR
Repository Name:
Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia (INGV)
Type:
book chapter
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