Santorini’s volcanic landform was created by subduction;
oceanic and continental crust subduction to be exact. When subduction occurs
ocean crust collides with continental crust and subducts causing a volcano to
form. Santorini today is the result of a
huge volcanic explosion that caused resulted in a caldera. Calderas form when
land collapses following a volcano eruption. They are like deep holes in the
ground where land submerges.
Santorini enjoys a
mild-mid latitude climate, a suitable fit for the Mediterranean. The mild- mid
latitude climate indicates brings about dry summers and wet winters. The warm
and dry season for Santorini begins in April and lasts until October, and the cold
and rainy season starts from November through March.
Santorini has a coastal landscape since it’s surrounded by
the Mediterranean Sea. Tides indeed form in the Mediterranean as the moon’s
gravity pulls the sea water towards it creating lumps in the water. Waves form
in orbital patterns that cause breakers such as spilling breakers. Spilling
breakers are the small whitewater waves that you see right by the shore.
In 10 years, due to the rise of the greenhouse effect my
guess is that Santorini’s temperature will increase. We’re emitting carbon
dioxide into the atmosphere like crazy which plays a key role in global
warming. Thus, if we keep the CO2 up the average temperatures for Santorini’s
climate will increase, causing it to be much warmer. A potentially dangerous consequence of global
warming is a rise in sea level, which is currently happening.
Since Santorini is surrounded by water the greenhouse effect
can have a major impact on its landform in 100 years or much less than that.
First, major erosion can occur. Santorini’s coastal landform can be
dramatically eroded resulting in sea stacks. This erosion mostly comes from
storms, and global warming makes us more prone to storms and floods. During this time there will also be
weathering of rocks by both physical and chemical weathering since everything
is always changing. My guess is that faults will also form because of the
pressure put on rocks with the dramatic climate change. Going along with the
global warming issue, if we do not do something about CO2 excess and change it
now, it is possible that in 1000 years Santorini will no longer exist. It will
be inundated due to a ridiculous rise in sea level caused by global warming.
