The explosive eruption on the island of Santorini in ~1630 B.C. in Minoan times had a large environmental impact over the
eastern Mediterranean region. It has even been suggested that the Mn-enriched layer (the bMarker BedQ) above the most recent
sapropel (S1) in sediments of a crestal area of the Mediterranean Ridge gained Mn from a hydrothermal source related to the
Santorini eruption. Radiocarbon dating of two cores from this area sampled at high resolution demonstrate that this large Mn peak
in fact pre-dates the Santorini event by ~2.8 ky and forms part of a pattern seen in Mn profiles from all over the eastern
Mediterranean. This same Mn profile shape is altered in areas that experienced substantial deposits of either the tephra layer
emitted by the Santorini eruption or the turbidites that were triggered by it. Evidence of both of these perturbations is readily
identified from compositional element/Al and Sr/Ca profiles that are distinct from those of the enclosing sediments. In one core
with a 37 cm thick Santorini ash layer an oxidation front succeeded in penetrating the whole ash layer after emplacement to form a
Mn peak but is now retreating. In cores where thin (b15 cm) Santorini turbidites or ash layers lie above S1, oxidation fronts
initially form additional Mn peaks on top of the turbidites and subsequently alter the characteristic double peaked Mn profile shape
usually observed above sapropel S1
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