Transatlantic Distribution of the Alaskan White River Ash
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Transatlantic distribution of the Alaskan White River Ash Britta J.L. Jensen1,2, Sean Pyne-O’Donnell2,3, Gill Plunkett2, Duane G. Froese1, Paul D.M. Hughes4, Michael Sigl5, Joseph R. McConnell5, Matthew J. Amesbury6, Paul G. Blackwell7, Christel van den Bogaard8, Caitlin E. Buck7, Dan J. Charman6, John J. Clague9, Valerie A. Hall2, Johannes Koch9,10, Helen Mackay4, Gunnar Mallon11, Lynsey McColl12, and Jonathan R. Pilcher2 1Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta T6G 2E3, Canada 2School of Geography, Archaeology, and Palaeoecology, Queen’s University Belfast, Belfast BT7 1NN, UK 3Department of Earth Science, University of Bergen, Allégaten 41, Bergen N-5007, Norway 4Palaeoenvironmental Laboratory (PLUS), Geography and Environment, University of Southampton, Southampton SO17 1BJ, UK 5Desert Research Institute, 2215 Raggio Parkway, Reno, Nevada 89512, USA 6Department of Geography, College of Life and Environmental Sciences, University of Exeter, Exeter EX4 4RJ, UK 7School of Mathematics and Statistics, University of Sheffield, Sheffield S10 2TN, UK 8GEOMAR Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research Kiel, Wischhofstrasse 1-3, Kiel D-24148, Germany 9Department of Earth Sciences, Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, British Columbia V5A 1S6, Canada 10Department of Geography, Brandon University, Brandon, Manitoba R7A 6A9, Canada 11Department of Geography, University of Sheffield, Sheffield S10 2TN, UK 12Select Statistics, Exeter Business Park, Exeter, Devon EX1 3LH, UK ABSTRACT et al., 1995). Deposits from the eruptions are Volcanic ash layers preserved within the geologic record represent precise time markers known as White River Ash north (WRAn), and that correlate disparate depositional environments and enable the investigation of synchro- east (WRAe) (Lerbekmo, 2008). WRAe is the nous and/or asynchronous behaviors in Earth system and archaeological sciences. However, volumetrically larger and younger event; a new it is generally assumed that only exceptionally powerful events, such as supereruptions (≥450 wiggle-matched age of A.D. 833–850 has been km3 of ejecta as dense-rock equivalent; recurrence interval of ~105 yr), distribute ash broadly determined for WRAe by multiple radiocarbon enough to have an impact on human society, or allow us to address geologic, climatic, and cul- dates on tree rings from a spruce killed by the tural questions on an intercontinental scale. Here we use geochemical, age, and morphological eruption (Table DR1 and Fig. DR1 in the GSA evidence to show that the Alaskan White River Ash (eastern lobe; A.D. 833–850) correlates to Data Repository1). It has a conservatively esti- the “AD860B” ash (A.D. 846–848) found in Greenland and northern Europe. These occur- mated eruptive volume of ~50 km3 (23 km3 rences represent the distribution of an ash over 7000 km, linking marine, terrestrial, and dense-rock equivalent, DRE), which assigns it a ice-core records. Our results indicate that tephra from more moderate-size eruptions, with magnitude of 6 on the volcanic explosivity index recurrence intervals of ~100 yr, can have substantially greater distributions than previously (VEI) (Lerbekmo, 2008). Put in perspective, thought, with direct implications for volcanic dispersal studies, correlation of widely distrib- this was an order of magnitude larger than the uted proxy records, and volcanic hazard assessment. 1991 eruption of Mount Pinatubo (Philippines; Holasek et al., 1996), but approximately half the INTRODUCTION archives on a regional scale is well established magnitude of the Mount Tambora (Indonesia) The geochemical correlation and dating of in Europe, western North America, Japan, and 1815 event (Self et al., 2004). WRAe remains volcanic ash deposits defines the field of teph- New Zealand, but there are no links between a visible stratigraphic horizon ~1000 km east rostratigraphy (or tephrochronology), which has these regions. Only a single example of a tephra from the source (Fig. 1). The tephra is rhyolitic, emerged as a powerful tool in geochronology with a widespread intercontinental distribution with glass shards ranging in composition from because each individual ash deposit, or tephra, is known: the supereruption of Toba (Indonesia) ~72 to 75 SiO2 wt% (normalized to 100% on a represents an isochronous stratigraphic hori- ca. 75 ka (Lane et al., 2013a). While it has been volatile-free basis). Visible deposits are mineral zon. Recent applications of tephrostratigraphy demonstrated that volumetrically smaller erup- rich, predominantly plagioclase, amphibole, and have illustrated the breadth of its applicability; tions can distribute ash over vast distances (Zie- Fe-Ti oxides, which commonly form micro- it is a critical component in studies addressing linski et al., 1997), there is little evidence that lites within glass shards. Glass morphology is African hominin genetic bottlenecks, Neander- they are preserved widely across the landscape. typical for eruptive material from the Wrangell thal extinction, and the asynchroneity of the Here we present the first recognition of a volcanoes, consisting largely of highly vesicu- Younger Dryas climate episode across the North North American ash in Europe through the cor- lar pumice (Fig. DR2). This eruption had a Atlantic region (Lowe et al., 2012; Lane et al., relation of two tephras: the White River Ash in substantial impact on the indigenous peoples 2013a, 2013b). Research spurred by the A.D. North America and the “AD860B” tephra in in the region, causing a major cultural change- 2010 eruption of Eyjafjallajökull (Iceland) also Europe. Each is an important regional strati- over (Hare et al., 2004), and it is considered to illustrated how established tephrostratigraphic graphic marker in its own right (e.g., Lerbekmo, frameworks can help us understand the fre- 2008; Lawson et al., 2012), and the knowledge 1 quency of such costly events, aiding planning that the two marker layers represent the same GSA Data Repository item 2014311, informa- tion on source data for glass geochemistry compi- and prediction (Swindles et al., 2011). How- eruption has important implications in terms of lations, supplementary figures including WRAe/ ever, the full potential of tephrostratigraphy is tephra dispersal and tephrostratigraphy and its AD860B images, geochemical plots, 14C age model only realized when a tephra is uniquely iden- application to other disciplines. output, two tables of 14C ages and glass geochemical tifiable, preserved in a variety of depositional The Bona-Churchill massif, a volcano in the means and standard deviations, and a dataset with all individual analyses, is available online at www environments, and widely distributed. The use Wrangell volcanic field of southeastern Alaska .geosociety.org/pubs/ft2014.htm, or on request from of tephra beds to correlate and date archaeo- (Fig. 1) has had two major eruptions, sepa- [email protected] or Documents Secretary, logical, geological, and paleoenvironmental rated by ~500 yr, in the past 2000 yr (Richter GSA, P.O. Box 9140, Boulder, CO 80301, USA. GEOLOGY, October 2014; v. 42; no. 10; p. 875–878; Data Repository item 2014311 | doi:10.1130/G35945.1 GEOLOGY© 2014 Geological | October Society 2014 of America.| www.gsapubs.org Gold Open Access: This paper is published under the terms of the CC-BY license. 875 Figure 1. Site map show- ing locations of samples NEEMNENEE NGRIRIP lected over ~20 yr, with different instruments, that were reanalyzed S2S2 analytical conditions, and standards. In addition, (stars), and several other UA 1111199 S1S1 the standard oxide suite (Si, Ti, Al, Fe, Mn, Mg, previously published lo- QQUB-108UB-108 Crawfishh cales (circles): Crawfish Nordan’s’s JAM-1J & Ca, Na, K) was expanded to include Cl, which Inlet DOM-2 Inlet (Alaska; Addison et Pond Bog is absent in most previous analyses but abundant al., 2010), Nordan’s Pond Bona-Churchill est. of visible Petiteetittitee Bog in WRAe in comparison to available Icelandic Bog (Newfoundland; volcanic areas fall-out area this study est. minimum glass analyses. Pyne-O’Donnell et al., other studies fall-out area 2012), and sites S1 and S2, two examples of a more comprehensive list of sites in Europe from Lawson et al. (2012). METHODS Est.—estimate; NGRIP—North Greenland Ice Core Project; NEEM—North Greenland Eemian Major and minor element geochemical analy- Ice Drilling; QUB—Queen’s University Belfast; JAM—Jardelunder Moor; DOM—Dosenmoor. ses were performed on single glass shards and The lack of sites between proximal samples and eastern Canada reflects the absence of cryptotephra studies in this region. were carried out at the University of Alberta on a Cameca SX100 using a 5 mm beam and 3 nA current, and a JEOL 8900 using a 10 mm beam be a likely cause for the southward migration of ice core (Greenland: sample QUB-1528; Coul- and 6 nA current. The Petite Bog sample was Athapaskan-speaking people to the American ter et al., 2012), were reanalyzed with UA 1119, analyzed at the University of Edinburgh, and southwest (e.g., Mullen, 2012). a WRAe sample collected along the axis of QUB-1830 (NEEM-2011-S1) was analyzed at Tephrostratigraphy has played a major role the plume in central Yukon, Canada. Two new Queen’s University Belfast. Details on analyti- in dating and correlating late Pleistocene to samples with the same age and morphology cal methods are available elsewhere (Jensen et Holocene records across Europe. Much of this as WRAe from Petite Bog (Nova Scotia), and al., 2008; Coulter et al., 2012; Pyne-O’Donnell tephrostratigraphic framework is based on cryp- Greenland (North Greenland Eemian Ice Drill- et al., 2012). totephra horizons (i.e., tephra deposits not vis- ing, NEEM-2011-S1 core) were also included All samples were analyzed concurrently with ible to the naked eye; e.g., Pilcher et al., 1995; (Fig. 1). New analyses were considered essen- secondary standard ID3506 (a Lipari obsidian), Swindles et al., 2011). The AD860B tephra was tial because previously published data were col- as well as Old Crow tephra, at the University initially detected in Ireland and is among the first cryptotephras to be widely identified and 6.0 3.0 geochemically characterized; its age of A.D.