[Rockhounds] Volcanic Eruption in Alaska May Have Sparked Political Turmoil in Ancient Rome

[gary brown]

Iceland, most notably Laki in the 18th century (https://www.wired.com/2010/06/0621laki-iceland-volcano-ash-chokes-europe/) have been doing Bad Things to Europe forever.  The bonus from Laki is Fluorine!  In Iceland, people's bones rotted out.  Not so bad in Europe...but pretty bad.

GcB

-----Original Message-----
From: Rockhounds <rockhounds-bounces at rockhounds.drizzle.com> On Behalf Of Kreigh Tomaszewski
Sent: Wednesday, June 24, 2020 5:16 PM
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Subject: [Rockhounds] Volcanic Eruption in Alaska May Have Sparked Political Turmoil in Ancient Rome

An unusually powerful volcanic eruption in 43 BCE has been linked to political upheaval on the other side of the globe, including the fall of the Roman Republic and the Ptolemaic Kingdom.

Julius Caesar was assassinated by a group of rebellious senators in 44 BCE, triggering a chain of events that led to the demise of the Roman Republic and the Ptolemaic Kingdom (a long standing Egyptian dynasty) and the rise of the Roman Empire. These historic political events were set against a backdrop of environmental and social instability, including unusually cold and wet weather, crop failures, famine, and disease.

New research <https://www.pnas.org/content/early/2020/06/17/2002722117>
published
this week in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences has identified a potential catalyst for these events: the eruption of Okmok volcano in Alaska’s Aleutian Islands. Historians had previously suspected a volcano, but the new research finally identifies the offending culprit, which erupted 2,063 years ago. The evidence points to a particularly powerful eruption, which had a dramatic effect on the Mediterranean climate and quite possibly its political climate as well.

https://gizmodo.com/volcanic-eruption-in-alaska-may-have-sparked-political-1844147367
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