Okmok and ancient Rome

"To find evidence that a volcano on the other side of the Earth erupted and effectively contributed to the demise of the Romans and the Egyptians and the rise of the Roman Empire is fascinating," McConnell said. "It certainly shows how interconnected the world was even 2000 years ago."

The discovery was initially made last year in DRI's Ice Core Laboratory, when McConnell and Swiss researcher Michael Sigl from the Oeschger Centre for Climate Change Research at the University of Bern, Switzerland, happened upon an unusually well-preserved layer of tephra in an ice-core sample and decided to investigate.

Access the paper and a compilation of additional information, including press releases, images and media mentions, here.

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