Santorini is not the product of a single volcanic eruption but rather the cumulative result of four major overlapping volcanic centers. Over hundreds of thousands of years, separate shield volcanoes built up through repeated eruptions.
Then, during catastrophic events, each volcano emptied its magma chamber and collapsed, forming a caldera. Specifically:
- The oldest, the southern caldera, formed about 180,000 years ago.
- Next, the Skaros caldera emerged roughly 70,000 years ago.
- The Cape Riva caldera followed about 21,000 years ago.
- Finally, the massive Minoan eruption around 3,600 years ago created the current caldera structure.
Each successive eruption reworked the landscape, and as these volcanoes overlapped, they shaped the distinctive crescent-like island group we see today—with the central caldera now hosting the younger volcanic islands of Nea Kameni and Palea Kameni.
This process, driven by the subduction of the African Plate beneath the Aegean, is what ultimately formed Santorini’s dramatic geological profile.Santorini is not the product of a single volcanic eruption but rather the cumulative result of four major overlapping volcanic centers. Over hundreds of thousands of years, separate shield volcanoes built up through repeated eruptions. Then, during catastrophic events, each volcano emptied its magma chamber and collapsed, forming a caldera.
Specifically:
- The oldest, the southern caldera, formed about 180,000 years ago.
- Next, the Skaros caldera emerged roughly 70,000 years ago.
- The Cape Riva caldera followed about 21,000 years ago.
- Finally, the massive Minoan eruption around 3,600 years ago created the current caldera structure.
Each successive eruption reworked the landscape, and as these volcanoes overlapped, they shaped the distinctive crescent-like island group we see today—with the central caldera now hosting the younger volcanic islands of Nea Kameni and Palea Kameni. This process, driven by the subduction of the African Plate beneath the Aegean, is what ultimately formed Santorini’s dramatic geological profile.
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