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Identifying the source of unknown volcanic eruptions in Late Antiquity

Objective

Volcanism has shaped the human trajectory as a result of the regional impacts of ash deposition and through global climate change caused by stratospheric veils of volcanic sulphate aerosols. Volcanic forcing of climate is suspected to be implicated in centennial scale climatic cooling during the Common Era, notably in triggering the Little Ice Age (LIA, circa 1300-1850 CE), and the shorter but cooler Late Antique Little Ice Age (LALIA, circa 530-680 CE). The latter episode would have contributed to major societal reorganisations that occurred across Eurasia, including the rise and demise of empires, migrations and political upheavals. The LALIA coincides with a series of large volcanic eruptions of unknown source, only identified by sulphur-rich horizons in polar ice cores, left by aerosols trapped in the ice after dispersal through the high atmosphere. This project aims to locate the volcanic sources of these unknown 6th and 7th century eruptions, by characterising and correlating their geochemical fingerprints in global archives, including Antarctic and Arctic ice cores and equatorial lake sediment cores. An interdisciplinary approach at the interface of glaciology, tephrochronology, dendrochronology, and climatology will be used to extract and analyse micrometric particles of far-travelled ashes and to identify correlations between different the samples and potentially to identify the source. The results of the proposed research will provide methodological advances of wider interest to tephrochronologists, and will facilitate modelling of the climate impacts of these eruptions. The outputs will provide a better understanding of the role of volcanism in centennial scale climate cooling during the Common Era, and inform the extent to which volcanism and associated climate forcing played a role in Eurasian history in the Late Antique period. They will also be relevant to understanding the potential impacts of future temporal clustering of climate-forcing eruptions.

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Programme(s)

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Topic(s)

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Funding Scheme

Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.

MSCA-IF-EF-ST - Standard EF

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Call for proposal

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(opens in new window) H2020-MSCA-IF-2017

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Coordinator

THE CHANCELLOR MASTERS AND SCHOLARS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CAMBRIDGE
Net EU contribution

Net EU financial contribution. The sum of money that the participant receives, deducted by the EU contribution to its linked third party. It considers the distribution of the EU financial contribution between direct beneficiaries of the project and other types of participants, like third-party participants.

€ 183 454,80
Address
TRINITY LANE THE OLD SCHOOLS
CB2 1TN CAMBRIDGE
United Kingdom

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Region
East of England East Anglia Cambridgeshire CC
Activity type
Higher or Secondary Education Establishments
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Total cost

The total costs incurred by this organisation to participate in the project, including direct and indirect costs. This amount is a subset of the overall project budget.

€ 183 454,80
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