Site U1596 (proposed Site CSK-06B) is located in the northern basin of the Santorini caldera (Figure F1). It lies at 382 meters below sea level (mbsl) and has a maximum recovery depth in two holes (U1596A and U1596B) of 40.6 meters below seafloor (mbsf) with 87%–91% core recovery (all depths below seafloor are given using the core depth below seafloor, Method A [CSF-A], scale, except in Operations where the drilling depth below seafloor [DSF] scale is used). Site U1597 addresses the same drilling objectives and lies southeast of Site U1596. Two additional sites (U1594 and U1595) lie in the southern caldera basin.
Four seismic units were previously recognized in the Santorini caldera (Johnston et al., 2015; Nomikou et al., 2016) (Figure F2). They were thought to consist of muds and sands from cliff mass wasting (Unit S1); compacted (possibly lithified) sandy volcaniclastics from Kameni Volcano (Unit S2); and consolidated coarse blocky intracaldera tuffs, landslide debris, and/or flood gravels (Unit S3). Unit S4 was thought to be intracaldera tuff from the Late Bronze Age eruption. The four caldera sites were planned to sample Units S1–S3; test the published correlations between the two caldera basins; penetrate below Unit S3 into Unit S4; and address scientific Objectives 1, 4, 5, and 7 of the Expedition 398 Scientific Prospectus (Druitt et al., 2022). By drilling both caldera basins and exploiting our dense seismic reflection coverage, we gained access to the 3D architecture of the entire caldera fill. We also targeted the question of why the northern basin is 100 m deeper than the southern one. Finally, we tested whether Unit S3 consisted of flood debris from the caldera-flooding event (Nomikou et al., 2016) or whether it was Late Bronze Age intracaldera tuff (Johnston et al., 2015). The intracaldera sites were used for microbiological work of Objective 7.
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Site U1595
Site U1595 (proposed Site CSK-08B) is located in the southern basin of the Santorini caldera at 291 meters below sea level (mbsl) (Figure F1). It was drilled in three holes (U1595A–U1595C) to a maximum recovery depth of 127.0 meters below seafloor (mbsf) (all depths below seafloor are given using the core depth below seafloor, Method A [CSF-A], scale, except in Operations where the drilling depth below seafloor [DSF] scale is used). Average hole core recoveries range 46%–77%. Site U1594 addresses the same drilling objectives and lies northeast of Site U1595. Two additional sites (U1596 and U1597) lie in the northern caldera basin.
Four seismic units (S1–S4) were previously recognized in the Santorini caldera (Johnston et al., 2015; Nomikou et al., 2016) (Figure F2). Seismic Units S1–S3 were thought to consist of muds and sands from cliff mass wasting (Unit S1); compacted (possibly lithified) sandy volcaniclastics from Kameni Volcano (Unit S2); and consolidated coarse blocky intracaldera tuffs, landslide debris, and/or flood gravels (Unit S3). Unit S4 was thought to be intracaldera tuff from the Late Bronze Age eruption. The four caldera sites were planned to sample Units S1–S3; test the published correlations between the two caldera basins; penetrate below Unit S3 into Unit S4; and address scientific Objectives 1, 4, 5, and 7 of the Expedition 398 Scientific Prospectus (Druitt et al., 2022). By drilling both caldera basins and exploiting our dense seismic reflection coverage, we gained access to the 3D architecture of the entire caldera fill. We also targeted the question of why the northern basin is 100 m deeper than the southern one. Finally, we tested whether Unit S3 consisted of flood debris from the caldera flooding event (Nomikou et al., 2016) or whether it was Late Bronze Age intracaldera tuff (Johnston et al., 2015). The intracaldera sites were used for microbiological work of Objective 7.
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- Award ID(s):
- 1326927
- PAR ID:
- 10528197
- Author(s) / Creator(s):
- ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; more »
- Publisher / Repository:
- International Ocean Discovery Program
- Date Published:
- Journal Name:
- Proceedings of the International Ocean Discovery Program Expedition reports
- Volume:
- 398
- Issue:
- 109
- ISSN:
- 2377-3189
- Format(s):
- Medium: X
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
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Site U1597 (proposed Site CSK-05C) is located in the northern basin of the Santorini caldera (Figure F1). It lies at a water depth of 382 meters below sea level (mbsl) and has a maximum recovery depth of 42.7 meters below seafloor (mbsf) (all depths below seafloor are given using the core depth below seafloor, Method A [CSF-A], scale, except in Operations where the drilling depth below seafloor [DSF] scale is used) with 94% core recovery. Site U1597 addresses the same drilling objectives and lies southeast of Site U1596. Two additional sites (U1594 and U1595) lie in the southern caldera basin. Four seismic units have been recognized in the Santorini caldera (Johnston et al., 2015; Nomikou et al., 2016) (Figure F2). They were thought to consist of muds and sands from cliff mass wasting (Unit S1); compacted (possibly lithified) sandy volcaniclastics from Kameni Volcano (Unit S2); and consolidated coarse blocky intracaldera tuffs, landslide debris, and/or flood gravels (Unit S3). Seismic Unit S4 was thought to be intracaldera tuff from the Late Bronze Age eruption. The four caldera sites were planned to sample Units S1–S3; test the published correlations between the two caldera basins; penetrate below Unit S3 into Unit S4; and address scientific Objectives 1, 4, 5, and 7 of the Expedition 398 Scientific Prospectus (Druitt et al., 2022). By drilling both caldera basins and exploiting our dense seismic reflection coverage, we gained access to the 3D architecture of the entire caldera fill. We also addressed the question of why the northern basin is 100 m deeper than the southern one, with a thicker Unit S1 but a thinner Unit S3. Finally, we tested whether Unit S3 consisted of flood debris from the caldera-flooding event (Nomikou et al., 2016) or whether it was Late Bronze Age intracaldera tuff (Johnston et al., 2015). The intracaldera sites were used for microbiological work of Objective 7.more » « less
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Site U1594 (proposed Site CSK-07B) is located in the southern basin of Santorini caldera at a water depth of 291 meters below sea level (mbsl) (Figure F1). It was drilled to a maximum recovery depth of 50.1 meters below seafloor (mbsf) in a single hole (U1594A) with 93% recovery before hole instability set in and the hole was terminated (all depths below seafloor are given using the core depth below seafloor, Method A [CSF-A] scale, except in Operations where the drilling depth below seafloor [DSF] scale is used). Site U1595 addresses the same drilling objectives and lies southwest of Site U1594. Two additional sites (U1596 and U1597) lie in the northern caldera basin. Four seismic units have been recognized in the caldera (Johnston et al., 2015; Nomikou et al., 2016) (Figure F2). They were thought to consist of muds and sands from cliff mass wasting (Seismic Unit S1); compacted (possibly lithified) sandy volcaniclastics from Kameni Volcano (Unit S2); and consolidated coarse blocky intracaldera tuffs, landslide debris, and/or flood gravels (Unit S3). Unit S4 was thought to be intracaldera tuff from the Late Bronze Age eruption. The four caldera sites were planned to sample Units S1–S3; test the published correlations between the two caldera basins; penetrate below Unit S3 into Unit S4; and address scientific Objectives 1, 4, 5, and 7 of the Expedition 398 Scientific Prospectus (Druitt et al., 2022). By drilling both caldera basins and exploiting our dense seismic reflection coverage, we gained access to the 3D architecture of the entire caldera fill. We also targeted the question of why the northern basin is 100 m deeper than the southern one. Finally, we tested whether Unit S3 consisted of flood debris from the caldera flooding event (Nomikou et al., 2016) or was Late Bronze Age intracaldera tuff (Johnston et al., 2015). The intracaldera sites were used for microbiological work of scientific Objective 7.more » « less
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Site U1592 (proposed Site CSK-09A) is located ~10 km southeast of Anhydros Island in the Anafi Basin at 693 meters below sea level (mbsl) (Figure F1). The aim at the site was to penetrate the entire volcano-sedimentary fill as far as the Alpine basement to reconstruct the evolution of the Anafi Basin: history of subsidence, presence of volcanic event layers in the basin sediments, and links between volcanism and crustal tectonics. We drilled to a maximum recovery depth of 519.8 meters below seafloor (mbsf) in two holes (U1592A and U1592B), terminating in limestone basement (all depths below seafloor [mbsf] are given using the core depth below seafloor, Method A [CSF-A], scale, except in Operations where the drilling depth below seafloor [DSF] scale is used). Average core recoveries were 71% (Hole U1592A) and 50% (Hole U1592B). The Anafi Basin potentially recorded the full volcanic history of Santorini (and any older centers) since rift inception, but it was envisaged to probably also contain few eruptive products from Kolumbo. Drilling enabled reconstruction of the volcanic, sedimentary, and tectonic histories of the Anafi Basin, allowing us to compare its evolution with that of the Anhydros Basin. The site was also chosen to develop a core-log-seismic integration stratigraphy and compare it with the recently published seismic stratigraphy for the basin (Preine et al., 2022a, 2022b) and the paleotectonic reconstruction of the region (Nomikou et al., 2016, 2018). The site transects six seismic packages of the Anafi rift basin, as well as the onlap surfaces between them (Nomikou et al., 2016, 2018; Preine et al., 2022a) (Figure F2). The Anafi Basin is crossed by many seismic profiles obtained in campaigns between 2006 and 2019, many of them multichannel (Hübscher et al., 2015; Nomikou et al., 2016, 2018). It is included within the area of the 2015 PROTEUS seismic tomography experiment, during which subbottom profiling, gravity, and magnetic data were also recorded (Hooft et al., 2017). The basin bathymetry had been studied in several marine campaigns, and fault distributions and throws had been mapped (Nomikou et al., 2016; Hooft et al., 2017). Previously published analyses of the seismic data suggested the following possible interpretations (from the bottom up; Preine et al., 2022a, 2022b): Units U1 and U2: sediment packages predating Santorini and Kolumbo volcanism; Unit U3: sediments and the products of the early Kolumbo volcanism and some of the Kolumbo cones; Unit U4: sediments associated with a major rift pulse; and Units U5 and U6: sediments and the products of Santorini activity, some of the Kolumbo cones, and the later eruptions of Kolumbo including the 1650 Common Era (CE) eruption. Units U3–U6 were believed to be of Pleistocene age, and Units U1 and U2 were believed to be possibly Pliocene. The site enabled us to test these interpretations by using the cores to reconstruct a near-complete volcanic stratigraphy consistent with both onshore and offshore constraints and pinned by chronological markers from biostratigraphy, magnetostratigraphy, and sapropel records. Benthic foraminifera from fine-grained sediments provided estimates of paleowater depths and, through integration with seismic profiles and chronologic data, of time-integrated basin subsidence rates. Coring at Site U1592 in the Anafi Basin addressed scientific Objectives 1–4 and 6 of the Expedition 398 Scientific Prospectus (Druitt et al., 2022). It was complemented by Site U1589 in the Anhydros Basin because each basin taps a different sediment distributary branch of the Christiana-Santorini-Kolumbo volcanic system.more » « less
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Site U1590 (proposed Site CSK-03A) is located 5 km northwest of the submarine Kolumbo crater on its flank in the Anhydros Basin at 397 meters below sea level (mbsl) (Figure F1). It lies on the intersection of Seismic Lines HH06-22 and HH06-34 (Figure F2). Drilling took place in two holes (U1590A and U1590B) to a maximum recovery depth of 627.8 meters below seafloor (mbsf) (all depths below seafloor are given using the core depth below seafloor, Method A [CSF-A], scale, except in Operations, where the drilling depth below seafloor [DSF] scale is used). Average core recovery in Hole U1590A was moderate (61%), but recovery in Hole U1590B was poor (14%). The seismic profiles across the Kolumbo edifice reveal five units interpreted as Kolumbo-derived volcaniclastics (K1–K5, from the base up; Figure F2) with Unit K5 representing the 1650 Common Era (CE) eruption (Hübscher et al., 2015; Preine et al., 2022). The submarine cones northeast of Kolumbo postdate Unit K2 on seismic profiles, but their products are not expected to be prominent in our drill cores. The aim of drilling on the flanks of Kolumbo was to penetrate the different seismically recognized volcanic eruption units from that volcano (K1, K2, K3, and K5 or their thin, lateral equivalents) as well as many eruption units from Santorini and traces from the submarine cones northeast of Kolumbo. This enabled characterization of the products of the Kolumbo eruptions and construction of a coherent stratigraphy for Santorini and the submarine Kolumbo volcano chain together. The anticipated lithologies were volcaniclastics, muds, and turbidites. Site U1590 lies at the foot of the Kolumbo edifice; it allowed us to drill Seismic Units K1, K2, K3, and K5 and therefore nearly the entire history of Kolumbo Volcano. Intercalated seismic units are believed to contain the products of Santorini eruptions, including potentially those of smaller magnitude than recorded at the more distal basin sites.more » « less
