Strombili volcano in Italy. Photograph by Martin Reitzel/Gazelian
The hubs and I watched a PBS Nova special this week that intrigued me—and got me started on enthusiastic research for Book 3 in my Ancient Magic series.
The mystery began when archaeologists found a hastily dug mass grave of 4,000 people in London.
So what killed all these people?
At first they assume it’s a plague pit from the Black Death. But when they date the bones, the remains turn out of be one hundred years too old.
The chronicles of that time describe a run of wild weather that devastated crops and spread famine across Europe.
As part of their research, scientists took ice core samples from the North Pole and looked at the section from the same time period, 1285. That year showed a huge spike in sulfuric acid residue in the core sample. Then they took an ice sample from the South Pole and found the same results.
Based on these findings, the Nova research team began to look for the signature of a volcanic eruption big enough to have blasted a huge cloud of ash and sulfuric acid into the atmosphere which chilled the entire planet. From Greenland to Antarctica, the team found telltale “fingerprints” in ice and soil layers until, finally, they narrow down the culprit to a smoldering caldera, a “blown out” volcano, on a remote Indonesian island.
Nearly 750 years ago, this volcano’s colossal explosion shot a million tons of rock and ash every second into the atmosphere. Across the globe, it turned summer into winter. Yes, you read that right. ACROSS THE GLOBE! Turns out, volcanic eruptions along the equator will swirl that debris both north and south through the atmosphere.
So first came the obvious question of, “Could it happen again?” Then my novelist radar went off, screaming, “There is such a paranormal story here!”
I already know that the third book in my series involves the volcano Goddess Pele. I envisioned it taking place in Hawaii, but, based on my current research, Mexico, Italy and Central America are also possibilities.
The mystery began when archaeologists found a hastily dug mass grave of 4,000 people in London.
So what killed all these people?
At first they assume it’s a plague pit from the Black Death. But when they date the bones, the remains turn out of be one hundred years too old.
The chronicles of that time describe a run of wild weather that devastated crops and spread famine across Europe.
As part of their research, scientists took ice core samples from the North Pole and looked at the section from the same time period, 1285. That year showed a huge spike in sulfuric acid residue in the core sample. Then they took an ice sample from the South Pole and found the same results.
Based on these findings, the Nova research team began to look for the signature of a volcanic eruption big enough to have blasted a huge cloud of ash and sulfuric acid into the atmosphere which chilled the entire planet. From Greenland to Antarctica, the team found telltale “fingerprints” in ice and soil layers until, finally, they narrow down the culprit to a smoldering caldera, a “blown out” volcano, on a remote Indonesian island.
Nearly 750 years ago, this volcano’s colossal explosion shot a million tons of rock and ash every second into the atmosphere. Across the globe, it turned summer into winter. Yes, you read that right. ACROSS THE GLOBE! Turns out, volcanic eruptions along the equator will swirl that debris both north and south through the atmosphere.
So first came the obvious question of, “Could it happen again?” Then my novelist radar went off, screaming, “There is such a paranormal story here!”
I already know that the third book in my series involves the volcano Goddess Pele. I envisioned it taking place in Hawaii, but, based on my current research, Mexico, Italy and Central America are also possibilities.
P0p0cateptl, near Mexico City, has erupted 20 times since 1519, most recently in 2000. Nearly nine million people live nearby.
Vesuvius in Italy has a history of eruptions every twenty years. This is the volcano that buried Pompeii. And it's overdue--the last major eruption was 1944.
Galeras is in Columbia near the Ecuador border. A 1993 eruption killed nine people, including scientists who had descended into the volcano's crater to take measurements to predict future eruptions.
Kilauea in Hawaii erupts every three years or so. It is one of five shield volcanoes that collectively form the Big Island of Hawaii.
With NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) starting in a week, I may just find myself working on three novels! I’ll give you the details in next week’s post, and so please drop by here again.
I plan to post book details and updates, character descriptions and pictures of how I imagine them, as well as “behind the scene” factoids about each book on this blog throughout November and early December.
Have a blessed Samhain and a scary but safe Halloween. See you next weekend!
I plan to post book details and updates, character descriptions and pictures of how I imagine them, as well as “behind the scene” factoids about each book on this blog throughout November and early December.
Have a blessed Samhain and a scary but safe Halloween. See you next weekend!
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