HR: 15:50h
AN: A43D-12    [Abstracts]
TI: New Perspectives on the Climatic Impact of the 1600 Eruption of Huaynaputina Volcano, Peru
AU: * Verosub, K L
EM: verosub@geology.ucdavis.edu
AF: University of California - Davis, Geology Dept. One Shields Ave., Davis, CA 95616, United States
AU: Lippman, J
AF: University of California - Davis, Geology Dept. One Shields Ave., Davis, CA 95616, United States
AB: A critical test of the new understanding of volcanic aerosols developed since 1982 is to determine if it can predict the effects of larger eruptions than those that have occurred since El Chichon. To do that, requires detailed information about the effects of specific large eruptions. We have been investigating the human and climatic impacts of the 1600 eruption of Huaynaputina volcano in Peru. The estimated Volcanic Explosivity Index for this eruption is 6, which is comparable to that of the 1815 eruption of Tambora volcano in Indonesia, which produced global cooling and led to crop failures, famine and social unrest. On the basis of tree-ring data, Briffa et al. (1998) suggested that the most severe short-term Northern Hemisphere cooling event of the past 600 years occurred in 1601, the year following the Huaynaputina eruption. In order gain a better understanding of the nature and extent of this cooling, we have been collecting annual time series that provide information about climatic conditions during time intervals that bracket the Huaynaputina eruption. Among the time series that we have examined (or plan to examine) are ice conditions in the harbors of Tallinn, Estonia, and Riga, Latvia and in Lake Suwa in Japan: cherry blossom blooming (sakura) dates from Kyoto, Japan; records of agricultural production from China and Russia; tithe records from the Spanish colonial empire; dates of the beginning of the wine harvest in France and the rye harvest in Sweden; prices of agricultural commodities in Europe; and river flows from the Nile and the Colorado. Often, in the records we have examined, 1601 shows up as one of the coldest years, if not the coldest year. In addition, the worst famines in Russian history took place between 1601 and 1603, which eventually led to the overthrow of Tsar Boris Gudonov. Thus, there is considerable evidence that the climatic impacts of the Huaynaputina eruption were comparable to those from the Tambora eruption. This result is important because it documents that significant global cooling events can be generated by South American volcanoes as well as Indonesian ones and that such events might occur with a return frequency of as little as 200 years.
DE: 0370 Volcanic effects (8409)
DE: 1605 Abrupt/rapid climate change (4901, 8408)
DE: 8408 Volcano/climate interactions (1605, 3309)
SC: Atmospheric Sciences [A]
MN: 2007 Joint Assembly