Assessing the impact of volcanic activity on mid-Holocene climate in Ireland: the need for replicate data

• Published in: The Holocene
• Main Authors: Caseldine, Chris, Hatton, Jackie, Huber, Ulrike, Chiverrell, Richard, Woolley, Nick
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: SAGE Publications 1998
• Subjects: Hekla
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.1191/095968398676397681; https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1191/095968398676397681

Analyses of pollen, tephra, mineral input and degree of peat humification from three neighbouring raised peat profiles at Corlea, central Ireland, covering the period of the deposition of a tephra layer dated to just before 2290 cal. BC, and thought to represent Hekla-4 (2310±20 BC), are used to show the problems of relying on data from a single profile when invoking relationships between volcanic activity, climate and ecosys-tem response. While there appears to be a strong correlation between tephra deposition and flooding of the bog surface in one profile, with a short-lived increase in the rate of peat accumulation, comparison with the other two records suggests that peat had already begun a trend to a less humified condition before tephra deposition, and that evidence of local bog surface flooding was neither consistent nor synchronous.