Timothée Chalamet and Monica Barbaro attend the UK premiere of 'A Complete Unknown' on the BFI Southbank cinema in London on January 14, 2025.

Hello, that is James Mangold. I co-wrote, directed and co-produced A Complete Unknown. “Mr. Pete Seeger.” This is Gerde's Volksstadt, an early scene within the film. Joan Baez has just sung a panoramic song and Pete Seeger comes on stage, played by the sensible Edward Norton, and introduces his protégé, a really young one 19-year-old Bob Dylan, who now we have only heard singing one other time, may be seen within the film thus far and comes on stage for his debut. Timothée Chalamet in fact plays Bob Dylan and is live on this scene, as he does the entire time We're also introducing Dan Fogler, who plays Albert Grossman within the audience. He'll be a eternally presence in Bob's life. that's lots to live as much as. Monica Barbaro is Joan Baez, type of a really strong presence in the people scene and an enormous star in folk music at this point “How about this Joan Baez, guys?” It's pretty good and she or he's pretty. Sings pretty. Maybe somewhat too pretty.” I really like this moment where Timothy portrays Bob's barely cocky, inappropriate and provocative nature. “I was young when I left home. I was wandering around. And I never wrote a letter home. To my home.” This is an early song by Dylan called “I Was Young When I Left Home” which I found fitting, especially because it is so deeply autobiographical, in the sense that Dylan was young when he left home and started his life again in New York. “I brought home my wages. And I met an old friend that I knew…” It’s interesting to inform the story of that point. I felt like quite a lot of Dylan's filmography, though it's mostly documentaries, may be very handheld, very vivid and electric within the sense that he chases the actors around in a documentary style. I felt like Bob's style itself was so profound that I wanted to take a seat back and just observe and permit the ability of the music that we play live throughout the film. Let this music communicate. “It's very good, isn't it?” “Yes.” “He is my client.” Folk music is in fact essentially easy, easy, a human voice and a guitar. And due to that, I felt like we actually couldn't risk making these pieces with an excessive amount of technical intervention. I just desired to allow the actors to transition from chatting with singing and back to speaking again in a way that felt completely natural and such as you were there.

As a yr of travel marked largely by protests against overtourism in Barcelona, ​​Oaxaca and Venice involves an end, the appeal of bizarre vacations continues to grow.

The aim of the initiative, launched in 2021, is to lift awareness of lesser-known places value seeing – while at the identical time rewarding responsible tourism management. Put simply, these destinations use visit resources in a way that promotes their cultural practices, preserves biodiversity and improves the standard of lifetime of locals. Each village also has fewer than 15,000 inhabitants and maintains traditional activities corresponding to farming and fishing.

“The Best Tourism Villages initiative not only recognizes the remarkable achievements of these villages, but also highlights the transformative power of tourism,” said UN Tourism Secretary-General Zurab Pololikashvili.

This yr's worthwhile destinations include rural villages in Panama and Guatemala, two countries appearing on the list for the primary time. Panama's historic northern port of Portobelo, for instance, attracts fewer people despite its quiet Caribbean beaches and significant colonial past. But it was also distinguished by the incontrovertible fact that tourism there, through the Bahía de Portobelo Foundation, funds cultural heritage conservation activities for young people, in addition to coral reef restoration projects.

Appearing on this coveted list may end in increased visitation from higher-spending travelers. In Aragon, Spain, for instance, the village of Alquezar, with its mountain tours, canyoning and mountain climbing opportunities, used to draw visitors primarily from France and Spain, but since its victory in 2022, it has been attracting international visitors from Japan, in line with Alquezar Mayor Ana and China vacation Blasco Castillo. Sandra Carvao, who’s involved in rural tourism development as director at UN Tourism, sees this as considered one of the most important advantages of the Best Tourism Villages initiative and diverting travelers from key hotspots. “It's really about making sure the sector can benefit places that don't necessarily come to mind,” she says.

This yr's winners were chosen from 260 nominations received by UN Tourism from greater than 60 member countries. We've highlighted five easy-to-access locations.

Splügen, Switzerland

Splügen, within the Swiss Alps near the Italian border, is a smaller ski resort than, say, busier and glitzier St. Moritz, only a scenic hour and a half drive east. But that's precisely the appeal: it's a quieter winter sports holiday destination that can also be an insider tip in spring and summer and offers access to crystal-clear lakes and the Beverin Regional Nature Park. Splügen became a part of this protected area in 2020, joining the greater than 10 communities living here which have committed to contributing to its preservation. The boutique Speluca Brewery Hotel is scheduled to open next yr; His design makes use of previously abandoned spaces on the sting of the village, including an old barn and a former Nineteen Sixties hotel, in addition to latest structures that reflect the village's traditional wood aesthetic. The Splügen communities also need to attract more visitors all yr round, which they expect to see after the completion of the longer term Rheinwald Resort AG project with a combination of rooms and a campsite for long-term stays.

San Rafael de la Laguna, Ecuador

San Rafael de la Laguna is a reminder of Ecuador's vast natural wealth – it lies within the foothills of the Andes, just below two hours' drive north of Quito. It is near Imbakucha, the Lake of the Gods, also generally known as Lago San Pablo. You can take guided tours to identify herons and geese from traditional boats constituted of totora reeds, an area aquatic plant that grows abundantly in the realm. Cycling enthusiasts will find routes that traverse the Otavalo Valley, and the village also celebrates energetic indigenous festivals. The Pawkar Raymi marks the beginning of the agricultural season in early March, coinciding with the spring equinox, and the Inti Raymi celebrates the winter solstice within the Southern Hemisphere. Expect quite a few community events for each, including traditional Andean music and dances. If you're more fascinated with hands-on experience, learn methods to make baskets, trays and hats from totora reeds in craft workshops.

Gharb Suhayl, Egypt

If you ought to visit the Grand Egyptian Museum in 2025, it's value a stop in Aswan, south of Giza. From there, take a 30-minute boat ride south to achieve the peaceful, ancient Nubian village of Gharb Suhayl on the banks of the Nile. Behind the brightly painted houses in blue, yellow and ochre, you'll find impressive art murals designed to present the realm the texture of a living open-air museum. You'll likely be invited right into a Nubian family's home to learn concerning the lifestyle, and also you may additionally spend time purchasing for handicrafts, jewelry and spices in souks. A handful of luxury tour operators like Black Tomato offer stops in Aswan and further down the Nile to Abu Simbel.

Pissouri, Cyprus

On Cyprus' rugged southwest coast, Pissouri offers a quieter alternative to the resort town of Limassol, just half-hour' drive east. In Pissouri, you may have your alternative of outside activities, including the Cape Astrot mountain climbing trail, which skirts gigantic rock formations and offers breathtaking views of a turquoise bay and its pebbly sand beach. The agricultural village's cobbled square is lined with local taverns where you may dine on Cypriot meze – small plates of local cheese, olives, seafood and grilled meats, in addition to dips. To delve deeper into Pissouri's heritage, take a guided tour of the G Theophamous winery and learn concerning the history of the Sultanina grape and winemaking traditions in Pissouri. To attract more visitors in the longer term, this small farming village is working on an accessible walking path for disabled travelers, in addition to a House of Halloumi museum – named after Cyprus' signature cheese – that may showcase the region's dairy products.

Uaxactun, Guatemala

Most people head to Tikal National Park, unknowingly bypassing Uaxactún, an ancient historic Mayan site just half-hour' drive north. But there are also uncrowded forest trails where you may tour the realm's temples, including a ceremonial complex, stelae, and an astronomical observatory that the Maya once used to mark celestial events. Uaxactún reached its peak between 600 and 900 AD, when it was a very important center for art and astronomy. In March, the eponymous village celebrates the spring equinox festival with sacred local ceremonies that include chanting, fire and drumming. Inquire about an arts and crafts workshop with local women's group Brisas de la Selva Maya, where you'll learn to make necklaces and bracelets using forest elements like seeds, mushrooms, and flowers.

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Originally published: December 10, 2024 at 3:12 pm PST

In just a couple of years, brand-name injectable medications comparable to Ozempic, Wegovy, Mounjaro and Zepbound have skyrocketed to fame Billion dollar annual sales for weight reduction in addition to controlling blood sugar levels and reducing the danger of heart disease.

But the worth of those injections is high: they cost about $800-$1,000 per 30 daysand when used alone for weight reduction, they are usually not covered by most insurance firms. Both medications mimic the naturally occurring hormone GLP-1 to control blood sugar and reduce food cravings. They can only be taken with a health care provider's prescription.

The Food and Drug Administration announced an official shortage of energetic ingredients in these drugs in 2022, but on October 2, 2024, the agency announced that this is able to be the case The shortage of the drug tirzepatide has been resolvedthe energetic ingredient in Mounjaro and Zepbound.

Despite the increasing demand and limited supply of those medications, no generic versions can be found. This is because of the patents for semaglutide – the energetic ingredient in Ozempic and Wegovy, which remains to be briefly supply – and tirzepatide won’t expire until 2033 and 2036respectively.

As a result, Non-branded alternatives Medicines, available with or with no prescription, flood the market. Still, these products pose real risks for consumers.

I’m a pharmacist Who is investigating weaknesses in federal supervision? recipe and over-the-counter medications And Dietary supplements within the USA My research group recently investigated loopholes which enable alternative products for weight reduction to enter the market.

High demand is driving GLP-1 wannabes newbies

The complement market is attempting to capitalize on GLP-1 demand with pills, teas, extracts and all types of other products claim to provide similar effects just like the brand names at a less expensive price.

Products containing the herb berberine only provide a a couple of kilos of weight reductionwhile many contain weight reduction supplements Stimulants comparable to sibutramine and laxatives comparable to phenolphthaleinthat increase the danger Heart attacks, strokes And Cancer.

The role of compounding pharmacies

Unlike the dietary supplements disguised as GLP-1 weight reduction products, pharmacies that manufacture supplements can produce customized versions of products that contain the identical energetic ingredients as the unique for patients who for some reason are neither branded nor Can use generic products.

These pharmacies may produce alternative versions of brand-name medications when official drug shortages exist.

Because demand for GLP-1 drugs far exceeds supply, compounding pharmacies legally produce a drug Variety of various semaglutide and tirzepatide products.

These products may are available different versions than those offered by brand manufacturers, comparable to vials containing powder that have to be dissolved in liquid, or as tablets or nasal spray.

Just like with brand name medications, you will have a legitimate prescription to acquire one. The prices range from $250 to $400 per 30 days – still a high price for a lot of consumers.

Compounding pharmacies must comply FDA sterility and quality production methodsbut these rules are usually not as strict for compounding pharmacies as they’re for business manufacturers of generic drugs.

In addition, the products that pharmacies produce are manufactured don’t must be tested on humans on safety or effectiveness, as is the case with branded products.

Even with compounded drug forms, getting the proper dosage is usually a challenge.

Companies using the system

For individuals who can't afford a compounded pharmacy product or can't get a legitimate prescription for semaglutide or tirzepatide, opportunistic corporations are stepping in to fill the gap. These include “peptide companies,” manufacturers that produce non-FDA-approved copycat versions of the drugs.

From November 2023 to March 2024, my team conducted a study to evaluate which of those peptide corporations were selling semaglutide or tirzepatide products. We searched the web for these peptide corporations and gathered details about what they sell and what their sales practices are.

We found that peptide sellers a Loophole for the sale of those drugs. On their web sites, the businesses state that their drugs are “for research use only” or “not for human consumption,” but they do nothing to confirm that the buyers are researchers or that the product is meant a research institution goes.

Reading the comment sections on company web sites and targeted ads on social media, it's clear that each buyers and sellers understand the farce. Unlike drug pharmacies, these peptide sellers don’t provide the materials you want to dissolve and inject the drug, don’t provide instructions, and typically don’t answer questions.

Because peptide sellers supposedly don’t sell to consumers, they don’t require a legitimate prescription and sell consumers the quantity of medication they want to buy. Even if an individual has an eating disorder, comparable to: Anorexia nervosaThe corporations are completely satisfied to sell you a semaglutide or tirzepatide product with no prescription. The average prices of those peptide products range from $181 to $203 per 30 days.

Base regulations

Peptide sellers would not have to stick to the principles or regulations that drug manufacturers or compounding pharmacies follow. Many corporations claim that their products are 99% pure, but a independent investigation of three corporations Products from August 2023 to March 2024 revealed that the purity of the products was far lower than promised.

A product contained endotoxin – a toxic substance produced by bacteria – suggesting it was contaminated with microbes. Additionally, the products' promised dosages were reduced by 29 to 39%. Poor purity may cause discomfort to patients Fever, chills, nauseaSkin irritation, infections and low blood pressure.

In this study, some corporations didn't ship the drug in any respect and told buyers they might must pay an extra fee to get the product through customs.

If a consumer is is broken by an inferior productit could be difficult to sue the vendor because the products specifically state that they’re “not intended for human consumption.” Ultimately, consumers are tricked into spending money on products which will never arrive, could cause an infection, may not have the proper dosage, and will not contain instructions on safely use or store the product.

Will prices for branded products fall?

To combat these alternative sellers, pharmaceutical company Eli Lilly began offering an alternate version of his brand name Zepbound Weight loss product in September 2024.

Instead of traditional injection pens, which cost greater than $1,000 a month to provide, this product is available in vials that the patient picks up and injects themselves. For patients taking 5 milligrams of Zepbound each week, the vial products would cost $549 per 30 days if patients purchase it through the corporate's online pharmacy and might prove they would not have insurance coverage for the drug.

After one Grilling on Capitol Hill In September 2024, the pharmaceutical company Novo Nordisk got here under intense pressure to supply patients without prescription insurance a less expensive product for its brand name Wegovy.

Additional brand-name drugs containing GLP-1 agonists are expected to come back onto the market in the following few years. As of October 2024, a A handful of those products are in late-stage clinical trialswith energetic ingredients comparable to Retatrutid, Survive And Ecnoglutideand greater than 18 other drug candidates are in earlier stages of development.

As latest pharmaceutical corporations enter this market, they have to offer patients lower prices than Eli Lilly and Novo Nordisk to be able to gain market share. This is the most definitely medium-term solution to scale back the fee of GLP-1 drugs and eliminate drug shortages in the marketplace.

Maarten Paes is the starting goalkeeper for Major League Soccer team FC Dallas. Yet he can walk down a busy street in Dallas, Texas without anyone noticing him.

This just isn’t the case online. Or in Indonesia.

Like his teammates on the Indonesian national team, Paes is mobbed on his visits to the country and has an enormous social media following, far larger than you’d expect from a player who has yet to hassle the very best echelons of football brought.

Paes, 26, was born within the Netherlands but took Indonesian citizenship in April and was shocked by the rapid growth of his social networks – he has 1.7 million followers on Instagram and 1.2 million on TikTok.

“You know it before it happens because you’ve seen it with other players. It’s such a huge country and everyone loves football,” says Paes.

The 26-year-old knew he could be eligible to play for Indonesia for a number of years, however the team turned to him again late last yr. “At this time, my grandmother’s health was deteriorating,” he says.

“She’s from there and I talked to her a lot about it. It was something I could do to make her smile at the end of her life. That was huge for me. She said, ‘I would really love it if you did that.’ So she encouraged me and it was an honor to do it for her.”

When it was announced that he was moving to Indonesia, his life modified. “That's when I felt like I needed to relate to my social media in a different way where you can put it aside for a while because it can be a little overwhelming,” he says. “It’s surreal to suddenly have so many followers and such a large crowd adoring you.”

Paes, who represented the Netherlands at youth level, played his first two games for Indonesia through the recent break. He says the goalless draw against Australia, 109 places above Indonesia within the FIFA world rankings, in front of greater than 70,000 fans on the Gelora Bung Karno Stadium was an eye-opener.

“It was like I realized how big it was for the first time,” he says. “You see it on the internet, you see the numbers and you can’t really understand it. Then we couldn’t leave the hotel without security.”

Oxford United, which sits ninth within the Championship, England's second division, rarely scores big on social media, but in August a video posted to Instagram reached 5.2 million views.

Australian A-League club Brisbane Roar also experienced a similarly strange spike in engagement on social channels this month. As in Oxford, videos posted on Instagram in Brisbane are typically viewed 1000’s of times. But back-to-back videos posted to Instagram earned Roar 4.5 million and 1.7 million views.

The explanation? You guessed it: the summer arrival of two Indonesian soccer superstars: national team children Marselino Ferdinan and Rafael Struick.

Ferdinan is a 20-year-old attacking midfielder who moved to Oxford from Belgian second division club Deinze last month. Struick is a 21-year-old striker who moved to Brisbane (owned by Indonesian conglomerate Bakrie Group) this month from ADO Den Haag, the second tier of Dutch football.

They were neither a widely known name, at the very least in Europe or Australia, nor did they arrive from well-known clubs.

Within days of Ferdinan joining Oxford, her variety of followers on Instagram grew from 83,000 to 226,000. Some of Brisbane's previous posts received fewer than 10 replies. Struick's announcement had 9,000.

This is the Indonesia effect. The country in Southeast Asia has a population of greater than 280 million people and football is the No. 1 sport. Cue adoration for national players and fanaticism online and offline.

To illustrate this, below are some statistics compiled by Indonesia to match Indonesia's starting XI to the US Men's National Team starting XI – nonetheless, we usually are not expected goals or progressive passes. We compare Instagram followers.

Indonesia's starting XI for the World Cup qualifier against Australia had a complete Instagram following of 26.9 million. The 11 clubs they play for have a combined fan base of lower than 10 million on the identical app.

In comparison, the USMNT's final starting XI within the friendly against New Zealand had a combined fan base of just 1.4 million.

That number might have been higher, but Christian Pulisic, the AC Milan striker with 7.8 million followers on Instagram, was on the bench.

What a comparison of the 2 starting XIs should highlight is the extent of support for Indonesian players, for instance, in comparison with a rustic of greater than 335 million those who will host the boys's World Cup in 2026.

The only players within the starting lineup for Indonesia's goalless draw with Australia who’ve fewer supporters than the club they play for are Rizky Ridho, who plays center back for Indonesian League 1 side Persija Jakarta, and Justin Hubner, who plays for the Wolverhampton Wanderers plays the Premier League.

The 21-year-old Hubner joined the Wolves youth team in 2020. He has yet to feature for the senior team and plays most of his games at academy level – but within the national team he’s treated as if he were playing week in and week out for Real Madrid, that's the fanfare he receives online and in person experienced.

“I can't leave my hotel (in Indonesia) because people are waiting for me and running to me. Everywhere I go it’s crazy,” says Hubner. “If I go into a store and then leave, there might be 100 people waiting there. I’m their idol, so they wait for me, for pictures and autographs.”

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More concerning the world of social media and football…

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Hubner was born within the Netherlands and played on Dutch youth national teams alongside Xavi Simons (an Instagram star as a teen with Barcelona, ​​he had one million followers before the age of 14 and now plays for RB Leipzig). Since Indonesia was once a Dutch colony, increasingly national team players have dual citizenship.

“I had maybe 5,000 followers on Instagram, and when fans realized I had Indonesian blood, that number went up to 30,000, and now I'm at 2.7 million,” Hubner says. “When it comes to social media, everything has grown so quickly. Everything from brand offers too. There's so much coming up for me now. It’s a dream.”

The day before he spoke to him, his contract with the deodorant company Rexona was finalized. “A lot of teammates here at Wolves jokingly say: 'Can I change my national team to Indonesia?'

“But the boys here support me and are happy for me. They also want followers because it's nice to have them, but it's not about followers. The important thing is that I play for the national team and what comes with that is really nice.”

Hubner was loaned out to Japanese club Cerezo Osaka last season and says there have been all the time Indonesian fans there to look at him, but when he traveled back to England after the 2 World Cup qualifiers against Saudi Arabia and Australia there was no welcome party like there would have been at Jakarta airport. He returned to his apartment alone and without the necessity for security.

“It’s a different world,” says Hubner about his quiet life in Wolverhampton. “When I come back to Europe, it's like I'm living my own life, without stress. There is a crazy side to Indonesia. You have no privacy, wherever you go, there are always people recording you. It's nice, but it's also good to have your own space and privacy again.

“When I landed in Indonesia, I tried to hide with a cap and mask, but they recognized me immediately. Even the security service and the police wanted photos of me. There were 50 to 60 people there who wanted a picture. My family is also pretty famous now. I created an Instagram account for my mother and she has almost 50,000 followers. Everyone recognizes her. When she first traveled to Indonesia, she asked why people wanted photos with her.”

When fans meet Hubner, it's commonplace for them to be overwhelmed with emotions. Some cried. His mother Brigitte has received direct messages from fans dreaming of marrying her son. The clubs try to make use of this star factor.

“Dallas noticed,” says goalkeeper Paes. “The club’s commitment has increased enormously. When I play for a club I want to help them as much as possible because they also help me a lot. My main focus is making sure the balls don’t go into the net, but I’m helping to build this club and raise awareness.”

Oxford, Ferdinan's recent club, is co-owned by Erick Thohir, an Indonesian businessman who helped them return to the second division after a 25-year break. Thohir was also appointed head of the Indonesian Football Association last yr and is behind the drive to enhance the national team, youth teams and overall football across Indonesia.

“The exciting thing about Marselino is that he is the best young Indonesian talent,” says Thohir. “He is 20, he played and trained in Belgium.

“We need to invest in young players at Oxford. He is young but has played more than 20 times for our national team, so the Oxford coach wants to give him a chance and that is the most important thing.

“If he brings more attention to Oxford that will be added value.

“We want to see an opportunity for all players who can play,” he added. “Let’s see if Marselino can survive in Oxford because we don’t offer a red carpet or VIP treatment. He has to keep up.”

“Core on deck!”

For two months, each time I heard that scream, I ran to the deck of the JOIDES Resolution to observe the crew hoist up a ten-meter-long cylindrical tube stuffed with layered, colourful rock and sediment they’d drilled from the seabed beneath our ship.

In the winter of 2022, I spent two months cruising the southern Aegean Sea aboard the International Ocean Discovery Program's JOIDES Resolution as a part of IODP Expedition 398. My fellow geologists and I used this former oil exploration vessel to drill deep into the seabed and uncover the volcanic history of the world off the coast of Santorini, Greece.

As a scientist who investigates the chemistry of volcanic rocksI exploit my expertise to correlate volcanic deposits with the eruption that caused them and to know the conditions magma was exposed to each deep beneath a volcano and through an eruption.

Our expedition’s drilling on the ocean floor revealed a massive but previously unknown volcanic eruption which occurred greater than 500,000 years ago. This discovery expands our understanding of the volcanic activity within the chain of volcanoes that South Aegean Volcanic Arcwhich is able to enable a more accurate hazard evaluation of this region.

Building a more comprehensive volcanic history

Archaeologists have long been fascinated by the eruption of Santorini within the late Bronze Age around 1600 BC. This eruption is related to the decline of the Minoan Civilization on the nearby island of Crete. Geologists even have great interest within the region attributable to the volatility of volcanic and seismic activity in the world, which is about 15,000 inhabitants and pulls around 2 million tourists per yr.

Although there’s extensive documentation of Santorini volcano on land, scientists realize it is incomplete. On land, older volcanic deposits are sometimes covered or obscured by erosion, vegetation and extra eruptions, leading to a fragmentary history. The deep-sea drilling enabled by the IODP's JOIDES resolution gives researchers access to a geological documentation rarely preserved on land.

After a volcanic eruption, pyroclastic materials – rock fragments and ash formed through the eruption – settle through the water column and collect on the ocean floor. There, clay and biological material, akin to the shells of tiny marine organisms, continually rain down and canopy the volcanic rock deposits. This process preserves the record of a single eruption as a single layer. The layers construct over time, with each successive volcanic event creating an almost continuous chronological record of the region's volcanic history.

The mission of Expedition 398 was to access these deep-sea records to document the extensive history of eruptions in each area of ​​concentrated volcanic activity.

IODP Expedition 398

IODP Expedition 398 collected cores to raised understand the volcanic history and return interval of the Santorini, Christiana and Kolumbo volcanoes on this region. The JOIDES Resolution crew drilled at 12 locations to a maximum depth of 900 meters below the seafloor. We recovered a complete of over 780 cores with a complete length of greater than 3,356 meters.

While technicians cut the core into 1.5-meter-long sections, scientists gathered to see what material had been recovered. After subjecting the cores to surface pressure, the team split them lengthwise, photographed them, analyzed them for physical properties akin to magnetic susceptibility, and described the fabric. Core describers measure and document the geological composition of every rock unit contained inside.

As head of the geochemistry lab, I took small samples from multiple layers of volcanic rock and ash to dissolve and analyze them for his or her trace element composition. During an eruption, magma crystallizes and mixes with elements within the water and rock it comes into contact with. The resulting chemical changes within the magma are unique to the conditions of that specific eruption, so once I determine the chemical composition of the deposit samples, I can determine their volcanic origin.

Our discovery: The Archaeos Tuff

During the expedition, our research group discovered a thick, white layer of pumice in several places in numerous basins. Biostratigraphy each occurrence of the layer was dated to the identical age: between 510,000 and 530,000 years ago. Geochemical correlations suggested that the composition was also the identical in all boreholes.

Finding the identical layer in these basins allows our research team to model how large the eruption that caused it might need been. Using the seismic data collected through the expedition, we were in a position to determine that the full volume of volcanic sediment is about 90 cubic kilometers, and in some places it’s as much as 150 meters thick. In addition, we found that this layer of volcanic rock was distributed over 3,000 square kilometers of this region within the southern Aegean.

Our team named this accretion Archaeus Tuff, after the Greek word Archaea for ancient. The name reflects the Greek origin of the rock and the proven fact that it was much older than much of the volcanic activity we all know of on land.

The properties of the Archaeos tuff help us understand the character of the volcanic eruption that formed it. Its thickness and distribution over a large area suggest that the Archaeos tuff is the results of a single, high-intensity eruption. The quite a few bubbles, or tiny holes, within the rock indicate that a considerable amount of gas was released similtaneously the liquid magma. These small gas bubbles paint an image of a robust eruption that released a considerable amount of volatile gas quite quickly.

Yet, despite its apparent size and ferocity, this eruption didn’t correlate with previously known land deposits or large eruptions. The relative lack of fabric on land suggests a primarily submarine eruption. Once we knew what we were searching for, our team was in a position to match our newly discovered deep-sea layer of volcanic sediment with some small, previously uncorrelated land deposits on the islands of Santorini, Christiana, and Anafi. The presence of those deposits suggests a breach of the ocean surface through the eruption, which again suits our picture of a high-energy eruption.

Further studies of the composition and age of the Archaeos Tuff confirmed the distinctiveness of the rock deposit left by this eruption. Based on the info we collected, our team believes that the Archaeos Tuff is the results of an eruption six times larger than the Bronze Age Minoan eruption and left rock deposits 30 times thicker. The presence of such a big volcanic deposit tells us that the South Aegean Volcanic Arc is more capable of manufacturing large submarine volcanic eruptions than scientists previously thought.

The identification of the Archaeos tuff expands our knowledge of volcanic processes within the southern Aegean. It suggests that the danger of submarine volcanism is larger than previously thought – and that authorities must reassess the volcanic hazards to the encircling population.