The Volcano That Changed The World (13 page)

This discovery reveals that Crete, the cradle of European civilization, and the fictitious Atlantis were about the same geographic size and their destruction occurred during the same time period, around the fifteenth century BCE. According to ancient writings, Atlantis was “swallowed by the sea,” whereas we know that Crete was engulfed by a giant tsunami, the result of the Thera volcanic eruption on Santorini, seventy nautical miles north of Crete. With the coincidences building, there is little remaining doubt that Crete was the inspiration for Plato’s story about the mythical Atlantis.

Mark stopped reading, wondering if the article had made it into the papers back home. Thinking of Tallahassee brought back into focus the attempted-murder investigation. He had spoken with Detective Carter on several occasions while on Santorini. Mark was disappointed to learn that very little progress had been made. His attempted killer was still out there.

Chapter Nine

The church says the earth is flat, but I know that it is round, for I have seen the shadow on the moon, and I have more faith in a shadow than in the church.

—
Ferdinand Magellan

Mykonos and Delos, July 1998

Work on Santorini was drawing to a close. Ash thicknesses had been measured at numerous locations; samples had been collected throughout the island and shipped back to FSU for future analysis. Mark had even returned to Nea Kameni sans Alexia on the
Isabella
. Despite having his right arm in a cast, Captain Baros handled the boat with little difficulty and was well on his way to recovery. As thanks to Mark, the trip was at no charge. While the captain remained onboard, Mark once again explored the small island and this time snorkeled in the hot springs, exploring the bottom of the inlet and taking sediment samples.

It was time
to leave Santorini. During his stay, in addition to his field observations, Mark read several reports prepared by the Greek Institute of Geology and Mineral Exploration on the Thera eruption. His understanding of the events that occurred around 1600 BCE had improved based on multiple lines of evidence.

             
First, Mark learned more about the nature of the tsunami that originated in Santorini and devastated the surrounding islands. On the small island of Anaphi, only seventeen miles east of Santorini, the IGME had found isolated pumice, associated with Santorini, as high up as seven hundred fifty feet above sea level.

Pumice
resembled a sponge. Because of its porous nature, containing abundant gas pockets, pumice floated on water like a cork. Some scientists believed the elevation of the pumice on Anaphi was an indication of the height of the tsunami when it hit the island. Mark concurred; the height of the Thera megatsunami when it slammed into Anaphi was greater than a fifty-story building.

Mark had
surfed in his younger years and to him a wave that large was almost incomprehensible. Because wave energy dissipates with distance, it was unclear how large the tsunami was when it hit Crete. He hoped to learn the answer during his fieldwork there later in the summer.

Second, Mark developed a better understanding of the
distribution of ash that fell from the sky following the Thera eruption. Along road cuts on Santorini, he observed the original soil and rock forming the land surface before the eruption. The original soil had both a different color and composition from the overlying ash—the original soil contained organic matter, the result of plant life that thrived on the island prior to the eruption. Above this ancient land surface, he measured a thickness of one hundred eighty feet of accumulated ash. IGME studies on Anaphi found the ash layer reduced to a thickness of only ten feet.

Ash deposits also were measured in
the seabed. IGME reported on cores of deep-sea sediments indicating Thera ash had a primarily easterly dispersal pattern. Lesser amounts of ash were found in other directions from Santorini. Some believed the easterly ash deposition, where the thickest ash deposits were found, was a result of the wind patterns at the time of the eruption. Although wind was a factor, wind alone could not explain the deposits of some of the larger ash particles. Mark’s theory was that a directed eruption, similar to the 1980 eruption of Mount St. Helens in Washington State, had occurred. A weak zone on the east side of the Thera volcano likely gave way, allowing ash and other volcanic material to vent primarily in that direction.

             
The thicker ash deposits formed a pie shape wedge, with the tip beginning at Santorini and spreading outward in a northeast-to-southeast arc. Even as far southeast as six hundred fifty nautical miles, ash and pumice were found in the Nile Delta of Egypt, the location where Hickenbottom was currently working to characterize Thera ash.

Less ash fell
south of Santorini in Crete and to the north on the Greek islands of Mykonos and Delos, Alexia and Mark’s next destinations. Delos, a sacred island, had an associated legend that it once had been a floating island, perhaps made of pumice. Mark did not believe this to be the case, but still wanted to check it out.

Alexia did not object to the trip north.
“After all,” she had said, “if you are in this part of the world, you should see as much of it as you can. These islands are definitely worth visiting.”

             
The plan was to spend three nights on Mykonos, during which time they would take a day trip to the UNESCO World Heritage site Delos. Delos had been the religious center of ancient Greece for many centuries, and was now a vast archaeological site. Happy to share the ruins with Mark, Alexia looked forward to their visit.

              On the six-hour ferry ride to Mykonos, there was little to do but enjoy the view. As they sat on the upper deck outside soaking in the warm sun and watching the water pass by, Mark asked, “Isn’t Alexandra a Greek name?”

             
“Actually, it’s the feminine form of the male Greek name, Alexandros, meaning ‘defender of mankind.’”

             
Glancing in her direction, he asked with an air of playful bemusement, “So, what do you defend mankind against?”

             
“Our worst enemy—other mankind.” She smiled broadly.

             
“I suspect you’ve answered that question before.”

             
“Perhaps.” She continued to grin. “What kind of name is Malloy?”

             
“Irish. Can’t you tell by my raucous sense of humor?” He returned her grin.

Laughing, she said, “That must have escaped me. So what does your name mean?”

Shaking his head, he responded, “Believe it or not, Malloy has a dual meaning, the first being ‘noble’ and the second, ‘big and soft.’ I prefer noble.”

Again laughing, she said, “I think big and soft
, like a teddy bear, may be more apt.”

“Very funny,
Alexia.”

“Are you a big fan of St. Patrick? Didn’t he drive the snakes out of Ireland?”

“So the legend goes,” responded Mark, “but like the legend of Delos being a floating island, the St. Patrick legend also is untrue.”

“How so?”

“There were never any snakes in Ireland. The credit for the lack of snakes there goes to Mother Nature, not St. Patrick!”

“Why’s that?”

“After the last ice age, the land bridge connecting Ireland to the rest of Europe flooded due to the melting ice before snakes could migrate over it.”

“More geology?”

“Of course,” Mark said, grinning.

“Your geology seems to take all the fun out of these legends.
”

“You think a story about snakes following someone playing a tune is more entertaining than climate change and flooding caused by melting glaciers? Wait, don’t answer that.”

After brief laughter, Alexia asked, “How did your family end up in America?”

Mark’s tone became
more serious, “My father’s side of the family emigrated from County Limerick in Ireland to the States in the late 1840s during the Great Potato Famine. My great grandparents landed in New York City. They were the lucky ones. Many who stayed behind starved to death.”

“Limerick
? As in a short humorous poem?” Alexia asked.

“One and the same, but it’s usually a risqué poem
,” Mark responded, anticipating what was coming next.

Alexia chuckled. “Well, that explains a lot.”

“I told you I was Irish.”

“So how did you end up in Florida?”
Alexia asked.

“That’s a good question. My
paternal grandmother developed a respiratory problem from all the air pollution in New York City. Her doctor told her she needed to get away, somewhere with clean air. My grandfather was a merchant, not tied to New York, so he packed up and headed south, ending up in northern Florida.”

He added, “You migh
t say we ended up in Florida because of love, the love of my grandfather for my grandmother.”

“
Ahh, that’s a great story,” Alexia said, patting Mark on the leg.

             
She added, “The climate in Florida is certainly different from that in New York or Ireland. Did you live on a beach?”

             
“I grew up in a place called Panama City, and I spent a fair amount of time on the beach nearby. I love the water.” As he said this, Mark looked out at the passing sea. Their ferry had attracted a large number of seagulls that were gliding on the air slipstream created by the ship’s movement.

             
“We have that in common. I live near a beach and love the water as well.” She stretched and yawned. “Where did the name ‘Panama City’ come from? It seems like an odd name for Florida.”

“
Well, there are two stories explaining the name. One begins with the developer looking at a globe of the world when he discovered the location of his new small port community was on a direct line between Chicago and Panama City, Panama. So he named it after the city in Panama. I guess the other option was to call it Chicago.”

He paused, waiting for a response. When she remained silent, he continued.
“The other story is that the name was selected because of the Panama Canal, which was under construction at the same time as the development of my hometown. Either way, there is a link to the Central American country.”

She nodded.

              He turned to her. “You’re from Crete originally, correct?”

             
“Yes, I was born there while my father was excavating a variety of Minoan sites. His father came there from Anatolia following World War I, when the Greeks were ousted from their homeland by the Ottoman Empire.” Her words trailed off. Her distant gaze drifted out to the vast sea.

             
When Alexia mentioned Anatolia, Mark detected a perceptible change in mood. “Didn’t Anatolia used to be part of Greece?”

“Yes,
but it was incorporated into the Ottoman Empire following World War I. At that time, Greeks living in Anatolia were forced to leave, creating a mass migration to other parts of Greece.”

Alexia then added, “
Even Santorini was part of the Ottoman Empire and was only annexed to Greece in 1912. The rift between Greece and Turkey continues today. I obviously am not a big fan of Turkey.”

             
“No offense, but it seems that it’s always those on the losing side of a war that cannot forget. Living in the southern US, it’s the Civil War that’s not forgotten. Even the FSU Army ROTC cadet corps has a battle streamer containing the words ‘NATURAL BRIDGE 1865.’”

“What is that?”

“
During the Civil War, cadets, ranging in ages twelve to eighteen, from the predecessor school of Florida State, fought successfully in the Battle of Natural Bridge near Tallahassee. The outcome was that Tallahassee was the only Confederate capitol east of the Mississippi River never to be captured. Had the South won the war, this minor battle would have been forgotten. But the South lost and the Battle of Natural Bridge is ingrained in every ROTC cadet who passes through FSU.”

             
Mark decided to change topics, seeking a subject of shared interest. “Another thing we have in common is performing interesting scientific work. For me, my job is more of an avocation than a vocation.”

             
It worked. Her spark returned. “I agree. I love what I do; learning from the past and figuring out what the ancients did and what they knew—determining how we can benefit from that knowledge.”

             
“Me too,” Mark said.

“
How do you like working for a university?” Alexia asked.

             
The question brought back into focus the problems he was having at home, dampening his mood somewhat. “I enjoy the research and working with students. It’s the office politics and intrigue that I could do without.”

             
She looked puzzled. “What do you mean?”

             
“I’m being considered for tenure this year and there’s a certain individual who is determined to see me fail. It was nice to leave that behind for the summer.” Not wanting to delve into it, he didn’t tell her about the attempted murder.

“
What do you think your chances are of receiving tenure? From looking at your resume, you certainly seem qualified—more than qualified.”

Mark thought a moment. “I think my chances are
pretty good, but it only takes two votes to eliminate me. This one individual will definitely vote against me and I’m aware that he’s working behind the scenes trying to coerce others to blackball me as well.” His voice trailed off. “It all depends on how successful he is in getting that second vote.”

             
She tried to cheer him up. “What? Someone doesn’t like Mark Malloy? That’s hard to believe. If it helps, I like you.” As she said this, she patted him on the knee again.