Extreme climate after massive eruption of Alaska's Okmok volcano in 43 BCE and effects on the late Roman Republic and Ptolemaic Kingdom.

Autor:	McConnell JR; Division of Hydrologic Sciences, Desert Research Institute, Reno, NV 89512; Joe.McConnell@dri.edu.; Sir Nicholas Shackleton Visiting Fellow, Clare Hall, University of Cambridge, Cambridge CB3 9AL, United Kingdom., Sigl M; Climate and Environmental Physics, Physics Institute, University of Bern, 3012 Bern, Switzerland.; Oeschger Centre for Climate Change Research, University of Bern, 3012 Bern, Switzerland., Plunkett G; School of Natural and Built Environment, Queen's University Belfast, Belfast BT7 1NN, United Kingdom., Burke A; School of Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of St Andrews, St Andrews KY16 9AL, United Kingdom., Kim WM; Climate and Environmental Physics, Physics Institute, University of Bern, 3012 Bern, Switzerland.; Oeschger Centre for Climate Change Research, University of Bern, 3012 Bern, Switzerland., Raible CC; Climate and Environmental Physics, Physics Institute, University of Bern, 3012 Bern, Switzerland.; Oeschger Centre for Climate Change Research, University of Bern, 3012 Bern, Switzerland.; School of Natural and Built Environment, Queen's University Belfast, Belfast BT7 1NN, United Kingdom., Wilson AI; Faculty of Classics, University of Oxford, Oxford OX1 3LU, United Kingdom.; School of Archaeology, University of Oxford, Oxford OX1 3TG, United Kingdom., Manning JG; Department of History, Yale University, New Haven, CT 06520-8324.; Department of Classics, Yale University, New Haven, CT 06520-8266.; School of Forestry & Environmental Studies, Yale University, New Haven, CT 06511., Ludlow F; Trinity Centre for Environmental Humanities, Department of History, School of Histories & Humanities, Trinity College, Dublin 2, Ireland., Chellman NJ; Division of Hydrologic Sciences, Desert Research Institute, Reno, NV 89512., Innes HM; School of Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of St Andrews, St Andrews KY16 9AL, United Kingdom., Yang Z; Trinity Centre for Environmental Humanities, Department of History, School of Histories & Humanities, Trinity College, Dublin 2, Ireland., Larsen JF; Department of Geosciences, University of Alaska Fairbanks, Fairbanks, AK 99775., Schaefer JR; Volcanology Section, State of Alaska Division of Geological and Geophysical Surveys, Fairbanks, AK 99709., Kipfstuhl S; Glaciology, Alfred-Wegener-Institut Helmholtz-Zentrum für Polar- und Meeresforschung, 27570 Bremerhaven, Germany., Mojtabavi S; Glaciology, Alfred-Wegener-Institut Helmholtz-Zentrum für Polar- und Meeresforschung, 27570 Bremerhaven, Germany.; Department of Crystallography, Geoscience Centre, University of Göttingen, 37073 Göttingen, Germany., Wilhelms F; Glaciology, Alfred-Wegener-Institut Helmholtz-Zentrum für Polar- und Meeresforschung, 27570 Bremerhaven, Germany.; Department of Crystallography, Geoscience Centre, University of Göttingen, 37073 Göttingen, Germany., Opel T; Polar Terrestrial Environmental Systems, Alfred-Wegener-Institut Helmholtz-Zentrum für Polar- und Meeresforschung, 14473 Potsdam, Germany., Meyer H; Polar Terrestrial Environmental Systems, Alfred-Wegener-Institut Helmholtz-Zentrum für Polar- und Meeresforschung, 14473 Potsdam, Germany., Steffensen JP; Physics of Ice, Climate, and Earth, University of Copenhagen, 1017 Copenhagen, Denmark.
Jazyk:	angličtina
Zdroj:	Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America [Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A] 2020 Jul 07; Vol. 117 (27), pp. 15443-15449. Date of Electronic Publication: 2020 Jun 22.
DOI:	10.1073/pnas.2002722117
Abstrakt:	The assassination of Julius Caesar in 44 BCE triggered a power struggle that ultimately ended the Roman Republic and, eventually, the Ptolemaic Kingdom, leading to the rise of the Roman Empire. Climate proxies and written documents indicate that this struggle occurred during a period of unusually inclement weather, famine, and disease in the Mediterranean region; historians have previously speculated that a large volcanic eruption of unknown origin was the most likely cause. Here we show using well-dated volcanic fallout records in six Arctic ice cores that one of the largest volcanic eruptions of the past 2,500 y occurred in early 43 BCE, with distinct geochemistry of tephra deposited during the event identifying the Okmok volcano in Alaska as the source. Climate proxy records show that 43 and 42 BCE were among the coldest years of recent millennia in the Northern Hemisphere at the start of one of the coldest decades. Earth system modeling suggests that radiative forcing from this massive, high-latitude eruption led to pronounced changes in hydroclimate, including seasonal temperatures in specific Mediterranean regions as much as 7 °C below normal during the 2 y period following the eruption and unusually wet conditions. While it is difficult to establish direct causal linkages to thinly documented historical events, the wet and very cold conditions from this massive eruption on the opposite side of Earth probably resulted in crop failures, famine, and disease, exacerbating social unrest and contributing to political realignments throughout the Mediterranean region at this critical juncture of Western civilization. Competing Interests: The authors declare no competing interest.
Databáze:	MEDLINE
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