Cryptotephra from Lipari Volcano in the eastern Gulf of Taranto (Italy) as a time marker for paleoclimatic studies

Abstract

We present the first tephroanalysis based on geochemical fingerprinting of volcanic glass shards from eastern Apulian shelf sediments in the Gulf of Taranto (Italy). High sedimentation rates in the gulf are ideal for high-resolution paleoclimate studies, which rely on accurate age models. Cryptotephrostratigraphy is a novel tool for the age assessment of marine sediment cores in the absence of discrete tephra layers. High-resolution quantitative analysis of glass shard abundance in the uppermost 45 cm of a gravity core identified two cryptotephras. Microprobe analysis of glass shards supported by an accelerator mass spectrometry 14C–based age model identified the pronounced primary cryptotephra at 36 cm bsf (below sea floor) as the felsic AD 776 Monte Pilato Eruption on the island of Lipari, whereas the thinner, mafic tephra layer at 1.5 cm bsf is associated with the AD 1944 eruption of Somma-Vesuvius. Identifying these tephra layers provides an additional, 14C-independent, stratigraphic framework for further paleoclimatic studies allowing us to link Mediterranean climate and hydrology to orbital variation and large-scale atmospheric processes. Our results underline the importance of qualitative tephrostratigraphy in a highly geodynamic region, where solely quantitative approaches have demonstrated to bear a high potential for false correlations between tephra layers and eruptions.

Chrono-stratigraphy of the youngest (last 1500 years) rhyolitic eruptions of Lipari (Aeolian Islands, Southern Italy) and implications for distal tephra correlations

“…Within the Aeolian archipelago, distal ash layers associated with the more recent eruptive cycle (last 1500 yrs) of Lipari have been found subaerially: i) interbedded within the products of the Commenda eruption deposits of the La Fossa cone on Vulcano island (Keller, 1980;De Astis et al, 2013;Gurioli et al 2012;Di Traglia et al, 2013;Fusillo et al, 2015;Albert et al, 2017;Rosi et al, 2018), ii) at the base of the eruptive products of the present-day activity of Stromboli (Rosi et al, 2000(Rosi et al, , 2013. More distally, rhyolitic tephra and cryptotephra layers within the same timestratigraphic window have been found in the southern Tyrrhenian Sea (Paterne et al, 1988;Di Roberto et al, 2008;Albert et al, 2012Albert et al, , 2017, in the Gulf of Taranto (Di Donato et al, 2019), and in the Ionian Sea (Caron et al, 2012;Menke et al, 2018;Insinga et al 2020), in which they J o u r n a l P r e -p r o o f represent important regional marker horizons. Several of these studies provide independent dating ( 14 C, oxygen-isotope data, ecostratigraphy, sedimentation rates) for the rhyolitic tephra layers found within the respective cores that will be used here to cross-check distal correlations.…”

“…Given the AD 1321-1349 date for the tephra , Caron et al (2012) attributed it to a generic MP eruption. Menke et al (2018) also identified a rhyolitic tephra layer which they attributed to MP based on 14 C age determinations and an age model based on the sedimentation rate in that area, while leaving open the possibility of a younger age (i.e. 13 th century).…”

“…The new chrono-stratigraphic framework for the MP, FV, RR and LA eruptions, combined with lithological and textural characterization and geochemical analysis of the glass, have important implications for the use of the corresponding tephra layers as chronostratigraphic markers in the Aeolian Islands region and across the southern Mediterranean area. Lipari-sourced rhyolitic tephra and cryptotephra layers have been recognized subaerially on the Aeolian Islands (see Keller, 1980;Rosi et al, 2000;Lucchi et al, 2013d;Albert et al, 2017;Rosi et al, 2018) as well as in marine sediment sequences of the southern Tyrrhenian (Paterne et al, 1988;Di Roberto et al, 2008;Albert et al, 2012Albert et al, , 2017 and Northern Ionian (Caron et al, 2012;Menke et al, 2018;Di Donato et al, 2019;Insinga et al, 2020) seas. Based on their rhyolitic composition, aphyric texture and stratigraphic position above the widespread Vallone del Gabellotto marker bed, these distal tephra layers have been generally correlated to the MP eruption, which was considered that with the largest magnitude and dispersal.…”

Climate change, society, and pandemic disease in Roman Italy between 200 BCE and 600 CE

“…When only the 14 C dating points (second polynome age model) are taken into consideration, this cryptotephra has a deposition time between 81 and 113 years CE ± 120 years. The majority of the glass particles at 1596.5- and 1594-mm core depths have a clear Lipari composition ( 80 , 82 ) . The elemental compositions of the “Lipari” glass shards are equivalent to that of glass particles in cryptotephra “t6” of the core TEA-C6 from the western side of the Gulf of Taranto (fig.…”

Global tephra studies: role and importance of the international tephra research group “Commission on Tephrochronology” in its first 60 years

“…Barton et al, 2015;Bruins et al, 2019;Hirniak et al, 2020), as have stalagmites (Klaes et al, 2022). Here, we list further examples including benchmark methodological papers, regional reviews, and recent papers on long sedimentary sequences that collectively emphasize the growing importance of cryptotephrochronological research: Turney (1998), Hunt (1999b), Hall and Pilcher (2002), van den Bogaard and Schmincke (2002), Davies et al (2004), Gehrels et al (2008, Wastegård and Davies (2009), Swindles et al (2011, 2019, Lawson et al (2012), Matsu'ura et al (2012, Wastegård and Boygle (2012), , Riede andThastrup (2013), Smith et al (2013), Abbott et al (2018aAbbott et al ( , b, 2020a, Menke et al (2018), Wulf et al (2018), , Leicher et al (2019), Jones et al (2020), Freundt et al (2021, Jensen et al (2021), andKinder et al (2021).…”