Nea Kameni

Nea Kameni
Nea Kameni (front), Palea Kameni (front-left), part of Aspronisi (far left) and Therasia (front, back) as seen from Thera, Santorini
Location
Location	Santorini, Greece
Coordinates	36°24′N 25°24′E / 36.4°N 25.4°E / 36.4; 25.4Coordinates: 36°24′N 25°24′E / 36.4°N 25.4°E / 36.4; 25.4
Geology
Type	lava dome[1]
Last eruption	1950

The Santorini caldera, with Nea Kameni in the center

Boats, moored to large boulders of lava at Nea Kameni, Santorini

Nea Kameni is a small uninhabited Greek island of volcanic origin located in the Aegean Sea within the flooded Santorini caldera. Nea Kameni and the neighbouring small island Palea Kameni (the new and old burnt islands) have formed over the past two millennia by repeated eruptions of dacite lava and ash. Major eruptions over the past 300 years took place in 1707-1712, 1866–1870, 1925–1928, and 1939-1941. The last small eruption happened in 1950 and involved lava dome extrusion.^[2]

Nea Kameni is nearly round and has a diameter of approximately 2 kilometers and an area of 3.4 km². Nea Kameni is monitored closely by scientists from the Institute for the Study and Monitoring of the Santorini Volcano (ISMOSAV)^[3] and is a protected scientific site. The island has many active sulfur vents, as well as a carpet of red grassy succulents on the thin soil in the summertime.

The nearly barren island is visited daily by dozens of tourist boats throughout the summer. Visitors climb a gravel path to reach the top of the 130-meter-high volcanic crater, where it is possible to complete a full circuit of the rim.

References

1. ^ http://www.volcano.si.edu/world/volcano.cfm?vnum=0102-04=&volpage=synsub
2. ^ http://www.volcano.si.edu/world/volcano.cfm?vnum=0102-04=&volpage=erupt
3. ^ Institute for the Study and Monitoring of the Santorini Volcano Retrieved 2009-05-17

External links

• Nea Kameni Virtual Tour, Volcano 360 Panorama Virtual Tour in High Resolution