The South Aegean Volcanic Arc is a chain of volcanic islands in the South Aegean Sea formed by plate tectonics as a consequence of the subduction of the African tectonic plate beneath the Eurasian plate. The southern Aegean is one of the most rapidly deforming regions of the Himalayan-Alpine mountain belt.
The active portion of the South Aegean Arc comprises a number of dormant and historically active volcanoes, including Aegina, Methana, Milos, Santorini and Kolumbo, and Kos, Nisyros and Yali. Of these, only Santorini, Kolumbo and Nisyros have either erupted or shown any significant evidence of unrest during the past 100 years.
One of the most noted volcanic eruptions from this arc occurred on the island of Santorini in the second millennium BC; during this eruption the Bronze Age city of Akrotiri was destroyed, with archaeological remains becoming well preserved under the volcanic ash.
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