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Andrew J Dugmore - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.
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Tephrochronology and the late holocene volcanic and flood history of eyjafjallajokull iceland
Journal of Quaternary Science, 2013Co-Authors: Andrew J Dugmore, Anthony Newton, Kate T Smith, Kerryann MairsAbstract:The hugely disruptive Eyjafjallajokull eruptions of 2010 AD are well known, but the recent history of the volcano is not, which compromises both Icelandic and international hazard assessments and risk planning. This paper identifies and dates the floods caused by two flank eruptions (the c. 920 AD eruption of the Skerin ridge and 6–7th century AD activity around Miðtungugil) and clarifies understanding of c. 6th century AD central vent eruption. These specific contributions to volcanic history are used to illustrate applications of Tephrochronology with widespread relevance: how to date eruptions that generate little tephra, better understand the flood hazards presented by glaciated, mountainous volcanoes and the relationship between long-term patterns of activity in neighbouring volcanoes, in this case Eyjafjallajokull and its close (and much larger) neighbour, the volcano Katla. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
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reconstructing late holocene environmental change in iceland using high resolution Tephrochronology
The Holocene, 2013Co-Authors: Richard Streeter, Andrew J DugmoreAbstract:High resolution records of sediment accumulation are necessary to evaluate subtle temporal and spatial variations in sediment flux, especially in the context of decadal-scale human–environment interactions. Digital photography using consumer-grade cameras may be used to gather thousands of stratigraphic measurements to ± 1 mm (potentially equivalent to ± 2 years of accumulation) and provide data amenable to statistical manipulation. This new approach is illustrated with an evaluation of 15th century landscape change in Iceland. High resolution measurements show that apparent ‘spikes’ in accumulation after episodes of plague are an artefact of lower resolution measurements (± 2.5 mm) over decadal periods. Regional records show little change in sediment accumulation rates after the plagues but key local records made possible using this new methodology reveal that the period ad 1389–1416 (encompassing the plague outbreak of ad 1402) had some of the lowest sediment accumulation rates since settlement of the i...
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isochrons and beyond maximising the use of Tephrochronology in geomorphology
2012Co-Authors: Andrew J Dugmore, Anthony NewtonAbstract:This paper reflects on the application of Tephrochronology in geomorphology. A common use of tephra layers is to define isochrons and use them to date environmental records. Applications of tephrochronol- ogy with the greatest practical utility, however, involve both classic isochrons (layers with an extensive distri- bution, distinctive well-characterised properties and good independent dating) and all other tephras present, including poorly-identified, unprovenanced and re-mobilised units that define time transgressive horizons. The effective use of this 'total Tephrochronology' requires replication across multiple sites, the clear identification of primary tephra deposits and re-mobilised deposits, combined with a good understanding of when tephra deposits truly define isochrons. Large scale replication of tephra stratigraphy is possible (and desirable) with terrestrial sequences, and can offer a detailed understanding of both geomorphological processes and human interactions with the environment. It is possible to use sequences of unprovenanced tephras as a 'barcode' to undertake local correlations and refine the application of well-known marker horizons to environmental records. High frequency and high resolution measurement of both the units between tephra layers and the tephra layers themselves can identify subtle shifts in landscape stability and land use.
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conceptual models of 1200 years of icelandic soil erosion reconstructed using Tephrochronology
Journal of The North Atlantic, 2009Co-Authors: Andrew J Dugmore, G Gisladottir, Ian A Simpson, Anthony NewtonAbstract:With reference to 18 tephra isochrones, we present six reconstructions of landscapes in South Iceland at precise times through the last 1200 years and develop three related models of soil erosion. Before the late ninth century A.D., the landscapes of Iceland were without people and resilient to natural processes. The initial impact of human settlement in the ninth century AD was most profound in ecologically marginal areas, where major anthropogenic modifi cations of the ecology drove geomorphological change. In the uplands, overgrazing contributed to the formation of a dense patchwork of breaks in the vegetation cover where soil erosion developed and resulted in the rapid denudation of large areas. As the upland soils were shallow (generally 2 m) involved a lower spatial density of eroding fronts and a slower loss of soil cover, but a much greater movement of sediment. Land-management strategies, changes in species patterns of plant communities, extreme weather events, and climate changes have combined in differing degrees to initiate and drive rates of soil erosion. Sensitivity to change and the crossing of erosion thresholds has varied through time. The record of soil erosion has major implications for both archaeology and contemporary land management.
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two millennia of glacier advances from southern iceland dated by Tephrochronology
Quaternary Research, 2008Co-Authors: Martin P Kirkbride, Andrew J DugmoreAbstract:Two glaciers at Eyjafjallajokull, south Iceland, provide a record of multiple episodes of glacier advance since the Sub-Atlantic period, ca. 2000 yr ago. A combination of Tephrochronology and lichenometry was applied to date ice-marginal moraines, tills and meltwater deposits. Two glacier advances occurred before the 3rd century AD, others in the 9th and 12th centuries bracketing the Medieval Warm Period, and five groups of advances occurred between AD 1700 and 1930, within the Little Ice Age. The advances of Eyjafjallajokull before the Norse settlement (ca. AD 870) were synchronous with other glacier advances identified in Iceland. In contrast, medieval glacier advances between the 9th and 13th centuries are firmly identified for the first time in Iceland. This challenges the view of a prolonged Medieval Warm Period and supports fragmentary historical data that indicate significant medieval episodes of cooler and wetter conditions in Iceland. An extended and more detailed glacier chronology of the mid- and late Little Ice Age is established, which demonstrates that some small outlet glaciers achieved their Little Ice Age maxima around AD 1700. While Little Ice Age advances across Iceland appear to synchronous, the timing of the maximum differs between glacier type and region.
Stefan Wastegard - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.
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Tephrochronology of the North Atlantic Region: linking marine, terrestrial and ice-core records from OIS 5-2
2020Co-Authors: Stefan Wastegard, Siwan M Davies, Rasmussen Tine L.Abstract:Major achievements have been made recently regarding the Tephrochronology of the North Atlantic area. For the first time a tephra-based correlation between marine cores from the North Atlantic and a terrestrial site on the Faroe Islands of Eemian age (OIS 5e) have been achieved (Wastegard et al., 2005). This is the first time that Tephrochronology has been used in order to correlate between marine and terrestrial archives older than OIS 4 in the North Atlantic region. Several new tephras from OIS 5-2 have been identified in North Atlantic sediments and the geochemical composition and distribution of the well-known North Atlantic Ash Zone II (ca 54 ka cal BP) has been refined (Wastegard et al., 2006). The known geographical distribution of other significant tephra strata have been outlined and, as a result, have established important tie-points between diverse palaeoarchives during the last glacial cycle. One important step forward was the identification of the Fugloyarbanki tephra in the NGRIP ice core, where it is dated to 26,740 ± 390 b2k according to the new Greenland Ice Core Chronology (GICC05). This widespread marker horizon has previously been reported in marine cores from the northern North Atlantic Sea and the Labrador Sea (Wastegard et al., 2006). Detection of this tephra for the first time within the NGRIP ice-core provides a pivotal link between marine and ice-core records during the transition between OIS 3/2, enabling an unprecedented insight into the spatial complexity of rapid climatic changes during this time (Davies et al., submitted). Recently another link between marine and ice-core records was established. The FMAZ III ash zone has been described in cores from the Faroe Islands area (c. 33,000 14C years BP), slightly above Heinrich layer 4, and close to the onset of GIS8. An equivalent tephra was recently identified in NGRIP where it is situated right at the peak of GIS8.ReferencesDavies, S.M., Wastegard, S., Rasmussen, T.L., Johnsen, S.J., Steffensen, J.P., Andersen, K.K. and Svensson, A., submitted: Identification of the Fugloyarbanki tephra in the NGRIP ice-core: a key tie-point for marine and ice-core sequences during the last glacial periodWastegard, S., Bjorck, S., Greve, C., and Rasmussen, T.L., 2005: A tephra-based correlation between the Faroe Islands and the Norwegian Sea raises questions about chronological relationships during the last interglacial. Terra Nova 17, 7-12.Wastegard, S., Rasmussen, T.L, Kuijpers, A., Nielsen, T., and van Weering, T.C.E., 2006: Composition and origin of ash zones from Marine Isotope Stages 3 and 2 in the North Atlantic. Quaternary Science Reviews 25, 2409-2419.
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towards a holocene Tephrochronology for the faroe islands north atlantic
Quaternary Science Reviews, 2018Co-Authors: Stefan Wastegard, Svante Bjorck, Ewa M Lind, Esther Ruth Gudmundsdottir, Rhys G O Timms, Gina E Hannon, Jesper V Olsen, Mats RundgrenAbstract:Abstract The Faroe Islands hold a key position in the North Atlantic region for tephra studies due to their relative proximity to Iceland. Several tephras have been described over the last 50 years in peat and lake sediment sequences, including the type sites for the Saksunarvatn and Mjauvotn tephras. Here we present a comprehensive overview of Holocene tephras found on the Faroe Island. In total 23 tephra layers are described including visible macrotephras such as the Saksunarvatn and Hekla 4 tephras and several cryptotephras. The importance of tephras originally described from the Faroe Islands is highlighted and previously unpublished results are included. In addition, full datasets for several sites are published here for the first time. The Saksunarvatn Ash, now considered to be the result of several eruptions rather than one major eruption, can be separated into two phases on the Faroe Islands; one early phase with two precursor eruptions with lower MgO concentrations (4.5–5.0 wt%) than the main eruption and a later phase with higher MgO concentrations (5.5–6.0 wt%), including the visible Saksunarvatn Ash. The Tjornuvik Tephra, previously considered to be a primary deposit, is now interpreted as a reworked tephra with material from at least two middle Holocene eruptions of Hekla. Several of the tephras identified on the Faroe Islands provide useful isochrons for climate events during the Holocene.
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marine Tephrochronology an introduction to tracing time in the ocean
Geological Society London Special Publications, 2014Co-Authors: Siwan M Davies, Peter M Abbott, Nicholas J G Pearce, William E N Austin, Stefan WastegardAbstract:WILLIAM E. N. AUSTIN1,2*, PETER M. ABBOTT3, SIWAN DAVIES3, NICHOLAS J. G. PEARCE4 & STEFAN WASTEGARD5 School of Geography and Geosciences, University of St Andrews, St Andrews, Fife KY16 9AL, UK Scottish Association of Marine Science, Scottish Marine Institute, Oban, Argyll PA37 1QA, UK Department of Geography, College of Science, Swansea University, Singleton Park, Swansea SA2 8PP, UK Department of Geography and Earth Science, Aberystwyth University, Aberystwyth SY23 3DB, UK Department of Physical Geography and Quaternary Geology, Stockholm University, SE-10691 Stockholm, Sweden
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a lateglacial early holocene Tephrochronology for sw sweden
Boreas, 2013Co-Authors: Carl Lilja, Björn Morén, Ewa M Lind, Stefan WastegardAbstract:Four cores from southwestern Sweden are presented together with their tephra geochemistry. Two cryptotephra horizons were confirmed geochemically in the cores, the Vedde Ash and the Hasseldalen Tep ...
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integrating the intimate records using Tephrochronology rising to the challenge
Quaternary Science Reviews, 2012Co-Authors: Siwan M Davies, Peter M Abbott, Stefan Wastegard, Nicholas J G Pearce, Simon P E BlockleyAbstract:Little has challenged our understanding of climate change more so than the abruptness with which large-scale shifts in temperature occurred during the Late Quaternary. The causal mechanisms driving ...
Anthony Newton - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.
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Tephrochronology and the late holocene volcanic and flood history of eyjafjallajokull iceland
Journal of Quaternary Science, 2013Co-Authors: Andrew J Dugmore, Anthony Newton, Kate T Smith, Kerryann MairsAbstract:The hugely disruptive Eyjafjallajokull eruptions of 2010 AD are well known, but the recent history of the volcano is not, which compromises both Icelandic and international hazard assessments and risk planning. This paper identifies and dates the floods caused by two flank eruptions (the c. 920 AD eruption of the Skerin ridge and 6–7th century AD activity around Miðtungugil) and clarifies understanding of c. 6th century AD central vent eruption. These specific contributions to volcanic history are used to illustrate applications of Tephrochronology with widespread relevance: how to date eruptions that generate little tephra, better understand the flood hazards presented by glaciated, mountainous volcanoes and the relationship between long-term patterns of activity in neighbouring volcanoes, in this case Eyjafjallajokull and its close (and much larger) neighbour, the volcano Katla. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
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isochrons and beyond maximising the use of Tephrochronology in geomorphology
2012Co-Authors: Andrew J Dugmore, Anthony NewtonAbstract:This paper reflects on the application of Tephrochronology in geomorphology. A common use of tephra layers is to define isochrons and use them to date environmental records. Applications of tephrochronol- ogy with the greatest practical utility, however, involve both classic isochrons (layers with an extensive distri- bution, distinctive well-characterised properties and good independent dating) and all other tephras present, including poorly-identified, unprovenanced and re-mobilised units that define time transgressive horizons. The effective use of this 'total Tephrochronology' requires replication across multiple sites, the clear identification of primary tephra deposits and re-mobilised deposits, combined with a good understanding of when tephra deposits truly define isochrons. Large scale replication of tephra stratigraphy is possible (and desirable) with terrestrial sequences, and can offer a detailed understanding of both geomorphological processes and human interactions with the environment. It is possible to use sequences of unprovenanced tephras as a 'barcode' to undertake local correlations and refine the application of well-known marker horizons to environmental records. High frequency and high resolution measurement of both the units between tephra layers and the tephra layers themselves can identify subtle shifts in landscape stability and land use.
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conceptual models of 1200 years of icelandic soil erosion reconstructed using Tephrochronology
Journal of The North Atlantic, 2009Co-Authors: Andrew J Dugmore, G Gisladottir, Ian A Simpson, Anthony NewtonAbstract:With reference to 18 tephra isochrones, we present six reconstructions of landscapes in South Iceland at precise times through the last 1200 years and develop three related models of soil erosion. Before the late ninth century A.D., the landscapes of Iceland were without people and resilient to natural processes. The initial impact of human settlement in the ninth century AD was most profound in ecologically marginal areas, where major anthropogenic modifi cations of the ecology drove geomorphological change. In the uplands, overgrazing contributed to the formation of a dense patchwork of breaks in the vegetation cover where soil erosion developed and resulted in the rapid denudation of large areas. As the upland soils were shallow (generally 2 m) involved a lower spatial density of eroding fronts and a slower loss of soil cover, but a much greater movement of sediment. Land-management strategies, changes in species patterns of plant communities, extreme weather events, and climate changes have combined in differing degrees to initiate and drive rates of soil erosion. Sensitivity to change and the crossing of erosion thresholds has varied through time. The record of soil erosion has major implications for both archaeology and contemporary land management.
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tephrabase Tephrochronology and the development of a centralised european database
Journal of Quaternary Science, 2007Co-Authors: Anthony Newton, Andrew J Dugmore, Bruce GittingsAbstract:Tephrabase was launched on the World Wide Web in 1995 as a tool for tephrochro- nological research. In order to facilitate the identification, correlation and dating of tephra deposits, this database may be interrogated through multiple routes, including by source volcano, date, location, and tephra chemistry; datasets include stratigraphy, geochemistry, chronology and spatial information. Currently all the European data refer to Late Quaternary Icelandic-sourced tephras, post- 12 k yr BP. The sites (62) where the tephra deposits are found include Iceland, the United Kingdom, Ireland, the Faroe Islands, Sweden and Russia. In addition, there are also data on tephra layers in central Mexico. Use of Tephrabase highlights the importance of selected geochemical data, but this has to be used with care as major element characteristics alone do not always produce unique definitions for single tephra deposits. For the most accurate results multiple criteria must be used. Tephrabase can be found at http://www.tephrabase.org. Copyright # 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
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Tephrochronology and its application to late quaternary environmental reconstruction with special reference to the north atlantic islands
2004Co-Authors: Andrew J Dugmore, Guorun Larsen, Anthony NewtonAbstract:This chapter offers a review of the current state of the art in tephro-chronology. This type of chronology building relies on chemically identifiable tephra deposits created by volcanic eruptions. Identifiable tephra can be spread over large areas and are often found on archaeological sites and in lake sediments, peat deposits and ice cores. Thus, tephras can be used to synchronize deposits at a variety of locations and if reliable dates can be obtained for them, Tephrochronology can be used to help build chronologies in a range of disciplines. For many years, tephra have been used to provide spot dates at single sites, but much of the potential for 3D reconstructions and spatial analysis of pat terns of change through time have yet to be realized. The chapter discusses the potential for development of suitable formal chronology building tools and highlights the kinds of research problems that need to be tackled.
Bernd Wagner - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.
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tephrostratigraphy and Tephrochronology of lakes ohrid and prespa balkans
Biogeosciences, 2010Co-Authors: R Sulpizio, Giovanni Zanchetta, Massimo Dorazio, Hendrik Vogel, Bernd WagnerAbstract:Abstract. Four cores from Balkans lakes Ohrid and Prespa were examined for recognition of tephra layers and cryptotephras, and the results presented along with the review of data from other two already published cores from Lake Ohrid. The six cores provide a previously unrealised tephrostratigraphic framework of the two lakes, and provide a new tephrostratigraphic profile (composite) for the Balkans, which spans from the end of the Middle Pleistocene to the AD 472. A total of 12 tephra layers and cryptotephras were recognised in the cores. One is of Middle Pleistocene age (131 ka) and correlated to the marine tephra layer P-11 from Pantelleria Island. Eight volcanic layers are Upper Pleistocene in age, and encompass the period between ca. 107 ka and ca. 31 ka. This interval contains some of the main regional volcanic markers of the central Mediterranean area, including X-6, X-5, Y-5 and Y-3 tephra layers. The other layers of this interval have been related to the marine tephra layers C20, Y-6 and C10, while one was for the first time recognised in distal areas and correlated to the Taurano eruption of probable Vesuvian origin. Three cryptotephras were of Holocene age. Two of which have been correlated to Mercato and AD 472 eruptions of Somma-Vesuvius, while the third has been correlated to the FL eruption from Mount Etna. These recognitions provide a link of the Ohrid and Prespa lacustrine successions to other archives of the central Mediterranean area, like south Adriatic, Ionian, and south Tyrrhenian seas, lakes of southern Italy (Lago Grande di Monticchio, Pantano di San Gregorio Magno and Lago di Pergusa) and Balkans (Lake Shkodra).
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Tephrostratigraphy and Tephrochronology of lakes Ohrid and Prespa, Balkans
Biogeosciences Discussions, 2010Co-Authors: R Sulpizio, Giovanni Zanchetta, Hendrik Vogel, M. D'orazio, Bernd WagnerAbstract:Abstract. Four cores from Balkans lakes Ohrid and Prespa were studied for recognition of tephra layers and cryptotephras, and the results presented along with the review of data from other two already published cores from Lake Ohrid. The six cores provide a previously unrealised tephrostratigraphic framework of the two lakes, and supply the first detailed tephrochronologic profile (composite) for the Balkans, which spans from the end of the Middle Pleistocene to the end of the Ancient Age (AD 472). A total of 12 tephra layers and cryptotephras were recognised in the cores. One is of Middle Pleistocene age (131 ky) and correlated to the marine tephra layer P-11 from Pantelleria Island. Eight volcanic layers are Upper Pleistocene in age, and encompass the period between ca. 107 ky and ca. 31 ky. This interval contains some of the main regional volcanic markers of the Central Mediterranean area, including X-6, X-5, Y-5 and Y-3 tephra layers. The other layers of this interval have been related to the marine tephra layers C20, Y-6 and C10, while one was for the first time recognised in distal areas and correlated to the Taurano eruption of probable Vesuvian origin. Three cryptotephras were of Holocene age. Two of which have been correlated to Mercato and AD 472 eruptions of Somma-Vesuvius, while the third has been correlated to the FL eruption from Mount Etna. These recognitions provide a link of the Ohrid and Prespa lacustrine successions to other archives of the Central Mediterranean area, like South Adriatic, Ionian, and South Tyrrhenian Seas, lakes of Southern Italy (Lago Grande di Monticchio, Pantano di San Gregorio Magno and Lago di Pergusa) and Balkans (Lake Shkodra).
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A 40,000-year record of environmental change from ancient Lake Ohrid (Albania and Macedonia)
Journal of Paleolimnology, 2009Co-Authors: Bernd Wagner, André F. Lotter, Norbert Nowaczyk, Jane M. Reed, Antje Schwalb, Roberto Sulpizio, Verushka Valsecchi, Martin Wessels, Giovanni ZanchettaAbstract:Lake Ohrid is considered to be of Pliocene origin and is the oldest extant lake in Europe. A 1,075-cm-long sediment core was recovered from the southeastern part of the lake, from a water depth of 105 m. The core was investigated using geophysical, granulometric, biogeochemical, diatom, ostracod, and pollen analyses. Tephrochronology and AMS radiocarbon dating of plant macrofossils reveals that the sediment sequence spans the past ca. 39,500 years and features a hiatus between ca. 14,600 and 9,400 cal. year BP. The Pleistocene sequence indicates relatively stable and cold conditions, with steppe vegetation in the catchment, at least partial winter ice-cover of the lake, and oxygenated bottom waters at the coring site. The Holocene sequence indicates that the catchment vegetation had changed to forest dominated by pine and summer-green oak. Several of the proxies suggest the impact of abrupt climate oscillations such as the 8.2 or 4.0 ka event. The observed changes, however, cannot be related clearly to a change in temperature or humidity. Human impact started about 5,000 cal. year BP and increased significantly during the past 2,400 years. Water column mixing conditions, inflow from subaquatic springs, and human impact are the most important parameters influencing internal lake processes, notably affecting the composition and characteristics of the sediments.
Mads Bakken Thastrup - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.
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Tephra, Tephrochronology and archaeology – a (re-)view from Northern Europe
Heritage Science, 2013Co-Authors: Felix Riede, Mads Bakken ThastrupAbstract:Volcanic eruptions are often, although by no means always, associated with a profuse output of fine pyroclastic material, tephra. While residence time in the atmosphere of the very finest of these particles can be substantial, the deposition of the bulk of volcanic ejecta can be considered instantaneous from a geological, archaeological, and evolutionary perspective. Often these volcanic products can be identified by various chemical and non-chemical means and if the eruption date is known, the occurrence of tephra from a given eruption in stratigraphic sequences provides a powerful means of dating such deposits, or of refining available dating schemes. Furthermore, the occurrence of tephra from the same eruption across sites, regions and in various types of depositional contexts (ice-cores, terrestrial, marine, cultural) holds the potential of linking and thus elucidating the tempi and causes of both environmental and cultural change. Recent years have seen considerable advances in Tephrochronology studies, especially regarding the detection of macroscopically invisible micro- or cryptotephras. In parallel with the possibility of detecting hitherto invisible tephras over vastly increased areas, the overall potential of Tephrochronology as a major dating tool for both palaeoenvironmental scientists and archaeologists is greatly expanded. The aim of this paper is not to be comprehensive, but to provide a brief and timely general review of tephra studies and their methodologies, and to make a case for better linking tephra research to archaeology, all from a primarily Scandinavian perspective. We argue that the identification of tephra in archaeological sediments should, in due time, become as routine as other types of geo-archaeological analyses, especially given that tephra cannot only act as a useful chronostratigraphic marker, but can also play a role in changing patterns of environmental and cultural change at the level of the site or the region. In order to move towards such integration, a series of methodological challenges have to be met. We outline some of these, and provide pointers as to how and where tephrochronologists and archaeologists can work together more closely.
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tephra Tephrochronology and archaeology a re view from northern europe
Heritage Science, 2013Co-Authors: Felix Riede, Mads Bakken ThastrupAbstract:Volcanic eruptions are often, although by no means always, associated with a profuse output of fine pyroclastic material, tephra. While residence time in the atmosphere of the very finest of these particles can be substantial, the deposition of the bulk of volcanic ejecta can be considered instantaneous from a geological, archaeological, and evolutionary perspective. Often these volcanic products can be identified by various chemical and non-chemical means and if the eruption date is known, the occurrence of tephra from a given eruption in stratigraphic sequences provides a powerful means of dating such deposits, or of refining available dating schemes. Furthermore, the occurrence of tephra from the same eruption across sites, regions and in various types of depositional contexts (ice-cores, terrestrial, marine, cultural) holds the potential of linking and thus elucidating the tempi and causes of both environmental and cultural change. Recent years have seen considerable advances in Tephrochronology studies, especially regarding the detection of macroscopically invisible micro- or cryptotephras. In parallel with the possibility of detecting hitherto invisible tephras over vastly increased areas, the overall potential of Tephrochronology as a major dating tool for both palaeoenvironmental scientists and archaeologists is greatly expanded. The aim of this paper is not to be comprehensive, but to provide a brief and timely general review of tephra studies and their methodologies, and to make a case for better linking tephra research to archaeology, all from a primarily Scandinavian perspective. We argue that the identification of tephra in archaeological sediments should, in due time, become as routine as other types of geo-archaeological analyses, especially given that tephra cannot only act as a useful chronostratigraphic marker, but can also play a role in changing patterns of environmental and cultural change at the level of the site or the region. In order to move towards such integration, a series of methodological challenges have to be met. We outline some of these, and provide pointers as to how and where tephrochronologists and archaeologists can work together more closely.
