Observations of a stratospheric aerosol veil from a tropical volcanic eruption in December 1808:is this the Unknown ~1809 eruption?
The Unknown eruption of 1808/1809 was the second most explosive SO 2 -rich volcanic eruption in the last two centuries, eclipsed only by the cataclysmic VEI 7 Tambora eruption in April 1815. However, no eyewitness accounts of the event, and therefore its location, or the atmospheric optical effects...
Published in: | Climate of the Past |
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Online Access: | https://hdl.handle.net/1983/dce251e6-7b6c-454e-91d0-c52ff172adad https://research-information.bris.ac.uk/en/publications/dce251e6-7b6c-454e-91d0-c52ff172adad https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-10-1707-2014 https://research-information.bris.ac.uk/ws/files/124748345/cp_10_1707_2014.pdf http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84907395020&partnerID=8YFLogxK |
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ftubristolcris:oai:research-information.bris.ac.uk:publications/dce251e6-7b6c-454e-91d0-c52ff172adad 2024-01-28T10:06:28+01:00 Observations of a stratospheric aerosol veil from a tropical volcanic eruption in December 1808:is this the Unknown ~1809 eruption? Guevara, Alvaro Williams, Caroline A Hendy, Erica Rust, Alison C Cashman, Katharine V 2014-10 application/pdf https://hdl.handle.net/1983/dce251e6-7b6c-454e-91d0-c52ff172adad https://research-information.bris.ac.uk/en/publications/dce251e6-7b6c-454e-91d0-c52ff172adad https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-10-1707-2014 https://research-information.bris.ac.uk/ws/files/124748345/cp_10_1707_2014.pdf http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84907395020&partnerID=8YFLogxK eng eng info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess Guevara , A , Williams , C A , Hendy , E , Rust , A C & Cashman , K V 2014 , ' Observations of a stratospheric aerosol veil from a tropical volcanic eruption in December 1808 : is this the Unknown ~1809 eruption? ' , Climate of the Past , vol. 10 , no. 5 , pp. 1707-1722 . https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-10-1707-2014 article 2014 ftubristolcris https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-10-1707-2014 2024-01-04T23:42:42Z The Unknown eruption of 1808/1809 was the second most explosive SO 2 -rich volcanic eruption in the last two centuries, eclipsed only by the cataclysmic VEI 7 Tambora eruption in April 1815. However, no eyewitness accounts of the event, and therefore its location, or the atmospheric optical effects associated with its aerosols have been documented from historical records. Here we report on two meteorological observations dating from the end of 1808 that describe phenomena we attribute to volcanic-induced atmospheric effects caused by the Unknown eruption. The observations were made by two highly respected Latin American scientists. The first, Francisco José de Caldas, describes a stratospheric aerosol haze, a "transparent cloud that obstructs the sun's brilliance", that was visible over the city of Bogotá, Colombia, from 11 December 1808 to at least mid-February 1809. The second, made by physician José Hipólito Unanue in Lima, Peru, describes sunset after-glows (akin to well-documented examples known to be caused by stratospheric volcanic aerosols) from mid-December 1808 to February 1809. These two accounts provide direct evidence of a persistent stratospheric aerosol veil that spanned at least 2600 km into both Northern and Southern Hemispheres and establish that the source was a tropical volcano. Moreover, these observations confirm that the Unknown eruption, previously identified and tentatively assigned to February 1809 (±4 months) from analysis of ice core sulfate records, occurred in late November or early December 1808 (4 December 1808 ±7 days). This date has important implications for the associated hemispheric climate impacts and temporal pattern of aerosol dispersal. Article in Journal/Newspaper ice core University of Bristol: Bristol Research Hipólito ENVELOPE(-64.246,-64.246,-65.239,-65.239) Climate of the Past 10 5 1707 1722 |
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Open Polar |
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University of Bristol: Bristol Research |
op_collection_id |
ftubristolcris |
language |
English |
description |
The Unknown eruption of 1808/1809 was the second most explosive SO 2 -rich volcanic eruption in the last two centuries, eclipsed only by the cataclysmic VEI 7 Tambora eruption in April 1815. However, no eyewitness accounts of the event, and therefore its location, or the atmospheric optical effects associated with its aerosols have been documented from historical records. Here we report on two meteorological observations dating from the end of 1808 that describe phenomena we attribute to volcanic-induced atmospheric effects caused by the Unknown eruption. The observations were made by two highly respected Latin American scientists. The first, Francisco José de Caldas, describes a stratospheric aerosol haze, a "transparent cloud that obstructs the sun's brilliance", that was visible over the city of Bogotá, Colombia, from 11 December 1808 to at least mid-February 1809. The second, made by physician José Hipólito Unanue in Lima, Peru, describes sunset after-glows (akin to well-documented examples known to be caused by stratospheric volcanic aerosols) from mid-December 1808 to February 1809. These two accounts provide direct evidence of a persistent stratospheric aerosol veil that spanned at least 2600 km into both Northern and Southern Hemispheres and establish that the source was a tropical volcano. Moreover, these observations confirm that the Unknown eruption, previously identified and tentatively assigned to February 1809 (±4 months) from analysis of ice core sulfate records, occurred in late November or early December 1808 (4 December 1808 ±7 days). This date has important implications for the associated hemispheric climate impacts and temporal pattern of aerosol dispersal. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Guevara, Alvaro Williams, Caroline A Hendy, Erica Rust, Alison C Cashman, Katharine V |
spellingShingle |
Guevara, Alvaro Williams, Caroline A Hendy, Erica Rust, Alison C Cashman, Katharine V Observations of a stratospheric aerosol veil from a tropical volcanic eruption in December 1808:is this the Unknown ~1809 eruption? |
author_facet |
Guevara, Alvaro Williams, Caroline A Hendy, Erica Rust, Alison C Cashman, Katharine V |
author_sort |
Guevara, Alvaro |
title |
Observations of a stratospheric aerosol veil from a tropical volcanic eruption in December 1808:is this the Unknown ~1809 eruption? |
title_short |
Observations of a stratospheric aerosol veil from a tropical volcanic eruption in December 1808:is this the Unknown ~1809 eruption? |
title_full |
Observations of a stratospheric aerosol veil from a tropical volcanic eruption in December 1808:is this the Unknown ~1809 eruption? |
title_fullStr |
Observations of a stratospheric aerosol veil from a tropical volcanic eruption in December 1808:is this the Unknown ~1809 eruption? |
title_full_unstemmed |
Observations of a stratospheric aerosol veil from a tropical volcanic eruption in December 1808:is this the Unknown ~1809 eruption? |
title_sort |
observations of a stratospheric aerosol veil from a tropical volcanic eruption in december 1808:is this the unknown ~1809 eruption? |
publishDate |
2014 |
url |
https://hdl.handle.net/1983/dce251e6-7b6c-454e-91d0-c52ff172adad https://research-information.bris.ac.uk/en/publications/dce251e6-7b6c-454e-91d0-c52ff172adad https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-10-1707-2014 https://research-information.bris.ac.uk/ws/files/124748345/cp_10_1707_2014.pdf http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84907395020&partnerID=8YFLogxK |
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ENVELOPE(-64.246,-64.246,-65.239,-65.239) |
geographic |
Hipólito |
geographic_facet |
Hipólito |
genre |
ice core |
genre_facet |
ice core |
op_source |
Guevara , A , Williams , C A , Hendy , E , Rust , A C & Cashman , K V 2014 , ' Observations of a stratospheric aerosol veil from a tropical volcanic eruption in December 1808 : is this the Unknown ~1809 eruption? ' , Climate of the Past , vol. 10 , no. 5 , pp. 1707-1722 . https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-10-1707-2014 |
op_rights |
info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-10-1707-2014 |
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Climate of the Past |
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10 |
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5 |
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1707 |
op_container_end_page |
1722 |
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1789333367393615872 |