A prolonged hydrothermal past at Santorini Caldera revealed by sedimentary trace metal and microbial signatures

Authors

• Sofia Della Salla, University of Oxford
• Vasiliki Papadimitriou, Hellenic Centre for Marine Research
• Paraskevi Polymenakou, Hellenic Centre for Marine Research
• Steffen Kutterolf, GEOMAR Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research, Wischhofstr. 1–3, Kiel, 24148, Germany
• Joost Frieling, University of Oxford
• David Pyle, University of Oxford
• Tamsin A. Mather, University of Oxford
• Stephanos Kilias, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens
• Christopher Jones, University of California at Riverside
• Tim Druitt, Laboratoire Magmas et Volcans, Clermont-Ferrand
• Jonas Preine, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution
• Christian Hübscher, University of Hamburg
• Paraskevi Nomikou, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens
• Olga Koukousioura, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki
• Thomas A. Ronge, Texas A&M University
• Sarah Beethe, Oregon State University
• Katharina Pank, Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research Kiel
• Carole Berthod, CNRS
• Hehe Chen, China University of Geosciences, Beijing
• Shun Chiyonobu, Akita University
• Acacia Clark, University of Tasmania
• Susan DeBari, Western Washington University
• Ralf Gertisser, Keele University
• Raymond Johnston, University of South Florida
• Michael Manga, University of California at Berkeley
• Molly McCanta, University of Tennessee, Knoxville
• Iona McIntosh, Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology
• Ally Peccia, Columbia University
• Masako Tominaga, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution
• Yuzuru Yamamoto, Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology

Document Type

Article

Abstract

Hydrothermal systems in volcanic calderas are critical in signalling volcanic unrest, forming ore deposits, and sustaining chemosynthetic microorganisms. Analysis of a ~3500-year sequence of sediments collected from the Santorini caldera, Greece, during International Ocean Discovery Program (IODP) Expedition 398 reveals the behaviour of a prolonged paleo-hydrothermal system. Sediment geochemical and metagenomic data record vigorous hydrothermal activity and metal fluxes for ~1100 years, within a 2270-year window between two major eruptions. Sediment hydrothermally-derived trace metals are significantly enriched over background (~200-fold for As and Hg, and 10–50-fold for Mn, Sb, Mo, and V), with long-term metal fluxes (9 t yr⁻¹ As, 2.5 t yr⁻¹ Cu, 7 kg yr⁻¹ Ag) comparable to fluxes from present-day geothermal fields in the Taupo Volcanic Zone. Metagenomic analysis identifies elevated metal resistance genes—signals of microbial adaptation to heightened hydrothermal stressors. Here we integrate geological and genomic evidence to decipher the paleoenvironmental and biogeochemical history of the past hydrothermal system at Santorini caldera.

DOI Link

10.1038/s41467-026-75931-8

Publication Date

2026-08-04

Publication Title

Nature Communications

Volume

17

ISSN

2041-1723

Deposit Date

2026-10-07

Funding

S.D.S. was supported by the Oxford DTP in Environmental Research (NE/L002612/1). J.F. and T.A.M. were supported through an ERC-consolidator grant V-ECHO (ERC-2018-COG-8187 17-V-ECHO) to T.A.M. Expedition 398 and JRSO were supported by NSF award OCE 1326927. V.P. was supported by the Hellenic Foundation for Research and Innovation (H.F.R.I PhD Fellowships – 11230). Funding for S.K and K.P was provided by the German Research Foundation (DFG; grant number 527924707) associated with the DFG IODP Priority Program. This is contribution no. 759 of the ClerVolc program of Clermont-Auvergne University.

Additional Links

https://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/105048890430

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Recommended Citation

Della Salla, S., Papadimitriou, V., Polymenakou, P., Kutterolf, S., Frieling, J., Pyle, D., Mather, T., Kilias, S., Jones, C., Druitt, T., Preine, J., Hübscher, C., Nomikou, P., Koukousioura, O., Ronge, T., Beethe, S., Pank, K., Berthod, C., Chen, H., Chiyonobu, S., Clark, A., DeBari, S., Gertisser, R., Johnston, R., Manga, M., McCanta, M., McIntosh, I., Peccia, A., Tominaga, M., & Yamamoto, Y. (2026) 'A prolonged hydrothermal past at Santorini Caldera revealed by sedimentary trace metal and microbial signatures', Nature Communications, 17. Available at: 10.1038/s41467-026-75931-8