Swiss researchers help to pinpoint 200-year-old volcanic eruption

A research team with Swiss participation has located which volcano was behind a mysterious 1831 eruption that impacted climate and crops across the world. +Get the most important news from Switzerland in your inbox In a study published on Monday in the US journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), researchers identified the Zavaritskii volcano on the Kuril Islands, between Japan and Russia, as the probable source of the eruption. During the 1831 eruption, so much sulphur was spewed into the atmosphere that the Earth’s climate cooled by up to 1°C. The eruption also led to less rainfall in Africa and India, which resulted in severe famines, the researchers explained. Yet despite this substantial impact, the location of the eruption remained unknown until now. + How a small Swiss robot aims to explore lunar volcanos Ash particles in ice cores To solve the mystery, the research team analysed various ice cores from Greenland containing traces of sulphur and volcanic ...