Mystery of devastating eruptions in the 13th century Lombok

Segara Anak Lake in Lombok, NTB, believed to be a remnant of the original structure Samalas Mt.

International scientists concluded that they managed to find a volcano that is responsible for a large eruption that occurred in the 13th century.

Mystery of the eruption that occurred in 1257 that still leaves the ashes of chemical contained in the Arctic North Pole and Antarctica.

Note medieval European history writing that the area at that time experiencing sudden cooling, and experienced crop failure due to the eruption.

In the scientific journal PNAS, an international team of Mountain Samalas point on the island of Lombok, Indonesia as the source of a major eruption.

That little remains of this ancient mountain initial structure is a large crater that is now better known as the Lake Segara Anak.

In his research team found similarities trace levels of sulfur and dust in polar ice by wrapping the data collected in the area of ​​Lombok itself, including radiocarbon dates, type and spread of rock and ash are removed, the tree circuit.

This study also browse local history that tell of the fall of the Kingdom of Lombok at one time in the 13th century.

"The evidence is very strong and interesting," said Professor Clive Oppenheimer, of the University of Cambridge, UK, told the BBC.

His colleague, Prof. Franck Lavigne, from the University Pantheon-Sorbonne, France, adds, "We conducted a study similar to the investigation of crime."

"We do not know the culprit in the beginning, but we had a trail of murder and geochemistry of the base of the ice, and it allowed us to explore the volcano that was responsible."

'Changing weather'

Eruption in 1257 several times associated with the mountain in Mexico, Ecuador and New Zealand.

But candidates from these countries fail in matching the date geochemistry, and only Samalas can "meet all requirements", said the researchers.

The team that conducted research in Lombok indicate that more than 40 cubic kilometers of rock and ash spewed out of the volcano, and materials into the air by the eruption reached a height of over 40km.

With a huge vomit it could bring volcanic material spread around the world in the amount that can be seen in the Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets.

The impact of climate change is also very significant.

Medieval history describes the weather was terrible took place in the summer of 1258. When the temperature dropped into very cold and it rained non-stop, causing catastrophic flooding.

Archaeologists recently noted 1258 as the year for the life of thousands of human skeletons were found buried in a mass grave in London.

"We can not be sure the two events are intertwined but the population at that time was very depressed," said Prof. Lavigne told.

Compared with other massive eruption, the researchers believe the eruption as large as the estimated Samalas Krakatau in 1883 and Tambora in 1815.