Global InformationTierra Blanca Joven eruption information
| Tierra Blanca Joven eruption | |
|---|---|
 The eruption created an 8 by 11 km (5.0 by 6.8 mi) lake-filled caldera known as Lake Ilopango. | |
| Volcano | Lake Ilopango |
| Date | 431±2 CE |
| Type | Ultra-Plinian |
| Location | El Salvador, Central America 13°40′N 89°03′W / 13.67°N 89.05°W |
| VEI | 6 |
 The estimated ashfall in the region during the Tierra Blanca Joven eruption. The ash covered at least 10,000 km2 (3,900 sq mi) up to 50 cm (20 in) deep,[1] and nearly 2,000,000 km2 (770,000 sq mi) with a blanket at least 0.5 cm (0.20 in) in depth.[2] The red spot is the ash at the bottom of the image. | |
The Tierra Blanca Joven eruption of Lake Ilopango was the largest volcanic eruption in El Salvador during historic times, and one of the largest volcanic events on Earth in the past 7,000 years, registering at 6 on the Volcanic explosivity index (VEI), and dating back to the mid 5th century A.D. The eruption produced between 37–82 km3 (8.9–19.7 cu mi) of ejecta (dense-rock equivalent).[2][3][4] The date of the eruption has been constrained within 429–433 CE by identifying its signature volcanic ash in precision-dated ice cores sampled from Greenland, thus eliminating it as the cause of extreme weather events of 535–536.[2]
- ^ Dull, Robert A.; Southon, John R.; Sheets, Payson (2001). "Volcanism, Ecology and Culture: A Reassessment of the Volcán Ilopango TBJ eruption in the Southern Maya Realm". Late Antiquity. 12 (1). Society for American Archaeology: 25–44. doi:10.2307/971755. JSTOR 971755. S2CID 163686184. Retrieved 2023-12-29.
- ^ a b c Smith, Victoria C.; Costa, Antonio; Aguirre-Díaz, Gerardo; Pedrazzi, Dario; Scifo, Andrea; Plunkett, Gill; Poret, Mattieu; Tournigand, Pierre-Yves; Miles, Dan; Dee, Michael W.; McConnell, Joseph R.; Sunyé-Puchol, Ivan; Harris, Pablo Dávila; Sigl, Michael; Pilcher, Jonathan R. (2020-10-20). "The magnitude and impact of the 431 CE Tierra Blanca Joven eruption of Ilopango, El Salvador". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 117 (42): 26061–26068. Bibcode:2020PNAS..11726061S. doi:10.1073/pnas.2003008117. ISSN 0027-8424. PMC 7584997. PMID 32989145.
- ^ Dull, Robert A.; Southon, John R.; Kutterolf, Steffen; Anchukaitis, Kevin J.; Freundt, Armin; Wahl, David B.; Sheets, Payson; Amaroli, Paul; Hernandez, Walter; Wiemann, Michael C.; Oppenheimer, Clive (2019). "Radiocarbon and geologic evidence reveal Ilopango volcano as source of the colossal 'mystery' eruption of 539/40 CE". Quaternary Science Reviews. 222: 105855. Bibcode:2019QSRv..22205855D. doi:10.1016/j.quascirev.2019.07.037. ISSN 0277-3791. S2CID 202190161.
- ^ Jicha, Brian R; Hernández, Walter (January 2022). "Effusive and explosive eruptive history of the Ilopango caldera complex, El Salvador". Journal of Volcanology and Geothermal Research. 421 (107426). Elsevier. Bibcode:2022JVGR..42107426J. doi:10.1016/j.jvolgeores.2021.107426.