With its romantic sunsets, dazzling ocean views, and whitewashed buildings clinging to rocky clifftops, the Greek island of Santorini (aka Thera or Thira) is the very picture of an idyll in the Aegean. But this tranquil scene belies the island"s explosive geologic history, for this is the site of one of the largest volcanic eruptions in recorded history. The Minoan eruption, about 3,600 years ago, caused the center of the Thera volcano to collapse into the ocean, leaving Santorini a jagged, crescent-shaped moon atop the sea.
Santorini through the clouds
Today in History
More Desktop Wallpapers:
-
Happy Boxing Day!
-
Happy Canada Day!
-
Día de los Muertos celebrations in Mexico
-
Kochelsee in Bavaria
-
Summer solstice
-
Does it swim in slow motion too?
-
Celebrating freedom
-
Mont-Saint-Michel
-
National Bird Day
-
Lei Day in Hawaii
-
Peel Castle on St. Patrick’s Isle with the Isle of Man in the background
-
Dancing waters of Dubai
-
Poppies for Armistice Day
-
Summer’s in home stretch
-
The Easter Bunny’s story
-
Banggai cardinalfish with sea anemone
-
Hello, harbinger of spring
-
Joan charges Riverside Park
-
Ancient theater of Epidaurus, Greece
-
National Park Service Founders Day
-
Jazzed for Mardi Gras
-
The persistence of Perito Moreno
-
Village of Saranac Lake, New York
-
Happy Father s Day
-
Puma in Patagonia
-
Cheetah in Ngorongoro Conservation Area, Tanzania
-
Plum blossoms in China
-
Room at the top?
-
Spotted owlet, Bangkok, Thailand
-
The glowing waters of the Matsu Islands
Bing Wallpaper Gallery

