Major and trace element characterization of tephra layers offshore Pantelleria Island: insights into the last 200 ka of volcanic activity and contribution to the Mediterranean tephrochronology

Abstract

A detailed tephrochronological study was carried out on the deep-sea core collected from Site 963A in the Sicily Channel during ODP Leg 160. The chronology of the succession is provided by an age-depth model based on isotope stratigraphy and quantitative eco-biostratigraphy. Major, trace and rare earth element content was obtained on single glass grains through electron probe micro-analysis and laser ablation-inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry techniques from six well-preserved tephra layers, characterized by a discrete thickness found along the succession. These deposits were correlated with the volcanic activity of Pantelleria and dated at 42.5, 127.5, 128.1, 129.1, 188.7 and 197.7 ka. This detailed chemical characterization of the studied deposits aims to provide a valuable reference database for scientists working on both proximal and distal products erupted at Pantelleria island during the Late Pleistocene. This study, moreover, offers the opportunity to better identify Pantelleria-related marker tephras within the tephrochronological framework of the central and eastern Mediterranean area.

Millennial-scale phase relationships between ice-core and Mediterranean marine records: insights from high-precision 40Ar/39Ar dating of the Green Tuff of Pantelleria, Sicily Strait

“…The last tuned age for Y-6 comes from the higher resolution record of ODP leg 160 site 963A cored off south-western Sicily (Emeis et al, 1996) and recently revised by Tamburrino An identical age of 42.5 ka is also claimed for Y-6 in the same core based on yet another age model tied to SPECMAP (Tamburrino et al, 2012; Basically, the age models derived in the same core by Tamburrino et al (2012) and Sprovieri et al (2012) differ in that the first is based on long-term orbital oscillations, the second on sub-orbital climatic frequencies, i.e. at low and high-temporal resolution, respectively.…”

“…First, to provide a direct and more robust calibration of multi-proxy paleoclimatic cores recording Y-6 (e.g., Tamburrino et al, 2012). Next, to keep pace with the ever improving precision of Late-Pleistocene paleoclimatic reconstructions spanning the last glacial cycle in this particular area (e.g., Lourens, 2004;Sprovieri et al, 2012).…”

“…As discussed further above, visual matching to either one or the other model age is inherently subjective. Alternative calibration of the GT against the original age model of Tamburrino et al (2012) tied to NGRIP returns a visually-matched estimate at 45 ± 1 ka. This underscores both the convergence of hand-tied estimates around ~ 45 ka but, more importantly, the variability inherent to interpolating across different age models in the same record.…”

“…Incidentally, the new 40 Ar/ 39 Ar age estimate lends support to the conclusion by Vogel et al (2010) that the peralkaline tephra M5 recognized at Lesvos by Margari et al (2007) is more probably correlated with the P-11 Mediterranean tephra layer than with the GT proper. With a sampling frequency about twice to five times greater than other cores, the data from core ODP 160-963 represent a qualitative improvement with near-millennial resolution, potentially allowing phase relationships to be investigated relative to the Greenland timescale Tamburrino et al, 2012). The calibration of Tamburrino (2008) The nominal 2.5 ± 0.6 ka age difference between our 40 Ar/ 39 Ar age and the 42.5 ka NGRIPtied calibration of Tamburrino (2008) and Sprovieri et al (2012) may be a reflection of this effect, potentially implying a phase shift of one D/O cycle length to align both records (Fig.…”

Ten Years of Paleoceanographic Studies at ODP Site 963 (Central Mediterranean Sea)

“…The bulk sediment composition is enriched in the terrigenous detrital matter [32] and several sapropelitic layers occur in the lowermost part of the sedimentary record [33,34]. Six tephra layers, associated to the Pantelleria island volcanic activity, have been identified [35]. The ODP1 tephra, corresponding to the Green Tuff and the Y-6 layer in the scheme of Keller et al [36] falls within the sedimentary sequence here selected.…”