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

• Main Authors: Nooren, Kees, Hoek, Wim Z., van der Plicht, Hans, Sigl, Michael, van Bergen, Manfred J., Galop, Didier, Torrescano-Valle, Nuria, Islebe, Gerald, Huizinga, Annika, Winkels, Tim, Middelkoop, Hans
• Other Authors: Petrology, Geomorfologie, Coastal dynamics, Fluvial systems and Global change
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: 2017
• Subjects: Geology; ice core
• Online Access: https://dspace.library.uu.nl/handle/1874/344531

A remarkably long period of Northern Hemispheric cooling in the 6th 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 Chichon 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.