Explosive eruption of El Chichón volcano (Mexico) disrupted 6 th century Maya civilization and contributed to global cooling

• Published in: Geology
• Main Authors: Nooren, Kees, Hoek, Wim, Van Der Plicht, Hans, Sigl, Michael, Van Bergen, Manfred, Galop, Didier, Torrescano-Valle, Nuria, Islebe, Gerald, Huizinga, Annika, Winkels, Tim, Middelkoop, Hans
• Other Authors: Faculty of Geosciences Utrecht, Utrecht University Utrecht, Centre for Isotope Research Groningen (CIO), University of Groningen Groningen, Laboratory of Radio- and Environmental Chemistry Villigen, Paul Scherrer Institute (PSI), Géographie de l'environnement (GEODE), Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université Toulouse - Jean Jaurès (UT2J), ECOSUR Unidad Chetumal, EI Colegio de la Frontera Sur (ECOSUR), Consejo Nacional de Ciencia y Tecnología Mexico (CONACYT)-Consejo Nacional de Ciencia y Tecnología Mexico (CONACYT)
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: HAL CCSD 2016
• Subjects: Mexico; El Chichon volcano; Maya societies; [SDU.STU.VO]Sciences of the Universe [physics]/Earth Sciences/Volcanology; [SDE.MCG]Environmental Sciences/Global Changes; ice core
• Online Access: https://hal-univ-tlse2.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01515945; https://hal-univ-tlse2.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01515945/document; https://hal-univ-tlse2.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01515945/file/Nooren%20et%20al.Geology-2017-Nooren-175-8.pdf; https://doi.org/10.1130/G38739.1

International audience A remarkably long period of Northern Hemispheric cooling in the 6 th century CE, which disrupted human societies across large parts of the globe, has been attributed to volcanic forcing of climate. A major tropical eruption in 540 CE is thought to have played a key role, but there is no consensus about the source volcano to date. Here, we present evidence for El Chichón in southern Mexico as the most likely candidate, based on a refined reconstruction of the volcano's eruption history. A new chronological framework, derived from distal tephra deposits and the world's largest Holocene beach ridge plain along the Gulf of Mexico, enabled us to positively link a major explosive event to a prominent volcanic sulfur spike in bipolar ice core records, dated at 540 CE. We speculate that voluminous tephra fall from the eruption had a severe environmental impact on Maya societies, leading to temporary cultural decline, site abandonment, and migration within the core area of Maya civilization.