The planet experiences sudden catastrophism: Recent studies of historic volcanic activity by Dr. Martin el Pozzo at the university’s Institute of Geophysics suggest that catastrophic volcanic eruptions may have been primary causes of the collapse of several of Mexico’s civilizations including a massive drop in the Maya population between 830 AD and 915 AD. Although located in the Maya lands, El Chichon volcano was ignored in the past by archaeologists because it was thought to have been dormant for several thousand years. Pozzo’s studies in 2008 found that volcanic tephra (ash) had on several occasions covered the southern Maya region. In particular, eruptions around 539 AD and 900 AD seemed to have been particularly traumatic... [link to www.examiner.com]