Scientists Link Unexpected Discovery of Greenland Rocks in Iceland To ‘Little’ Ice Age - And Roman Empire Collapse
Multiple reasons have been put forward by historians for the downfall of the Western Roman Empire. Another cause that possibly triggered the downfall has been discussed in the journal Geology. The proof of this 'cause' was spotted by experts in Iceland, stated GizModo.
The team analyzed certain rocks from Iceland, which indicated that climate change possibly brought down Roman culture around 540 CE. These rocks were chosen by the team because they appeared to be out of place, according to Phys.org. The specimens were embedded in cliffs on Iceland's west coast. They did not look like the other rocks present in the region, and hence raised the curiosity of experts.
Researchers took the rocks to the lab and crushed them under a microscope. They were able to retrieve zircon crystals from the specimens. Such crystals act as time capsules for geologists, who, by analyzing their content, can determine their origins. The crystal's age and chemistry revealed that the specimens came from rock fields across Greenland, some 1,500 years ago. The age of the specimens indicates that they moved at the beginning of the Late Antique Little Ice Age. This fact made the study suggest that the rocks shifted when ice broke apart from Greenland's larger glaciers. Late Antique Little Ice Age (LALIA) was a period of two to three centuries, when the Earth faced intense cooling, stated GizModo. LALIA has been estimated to have begun around 540 CE.
The zircon crystals were traced back to different regions of Greenland. Researchers think that after breaking away from glaciers, the ice chunks traveled through oceans, and after melting, left rock debris on Iceland's shores. Experts claim that the long journey undertaken by the rocks during that period indicates the extremities of the time. These extremities, in turn, possibly caused issues that wiped out the Roman culture. Past studies have claimed that LALIA was triggered by volcanic eruptions, whose ashes blocked sunlight and brought down the temperature. The consequences must have been hard to bear for an already weakened Western Roman Empire.
As per the available information, experts claim that the Roman Empire began amidst a warm climate and stable temperatures. Beginning from the third century, the weather patterns changed, which led to an epidemic amongst civilians. Political and social tension reached its peak when an unstable climate led to the reduction of agricultural output. Historians claim that the Western Roman Empire perished in 476 CE, with the removal of Romulus Augustulus, the last Western Roman emperor.
Some may question how a climatic event that started six decades later caused the downfall of a kingdom that had already perished. Experts explained that even after the overthrow of Romulus Augustulus, Roman culture possibly persisted in the region. However, the effects brought by LALIA likely had a severe impact on the livelihood of the surviving Roman community and expedited their destruction. The results showcase how interlinked climate is to the survival of a culture, and provide impetus to understand how current changes might transform the world.