New unspiked K–Ar ages of Quaternary sub-glacial and sub-aerial volcanic activity in Iceland

• Published in: Quaternary Geochronology
• Main Authors: Guillou, Hervé, Van Vliet-Lanoë, Brigitte, Guomundsson, Agust, Nomade, S.
• Other Authors: Laboratoire des Sciences du Climat et de l'Environnement Gif-sur-Yvette (LSCE), Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Université Paris-Saclay-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Commissariat à l'énergie atomique et aux énergies alternatives (CEA)-Université de Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines (UVSQ), Paléocéanographie (PALEOCEAN), Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Université Paris-Saclay-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Commissariat à l'énergie atomique et aux énergies alternatives (CEA)-Université de Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines (UVSQ)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Université Paris-Saclay-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Commissariat à l'énergie atomique et aux énergies alternatives (CEA)-Université de Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines (UVSQ), Domaines Océaniques (LDO), Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut d'écologie et environnement-Observatoire des Sciences de l'Univers-Université de Brest (UBO)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS), Université européenne de Bretagne - European University of Brittany (UEB), JFS Geological Services, JFS
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: HAL CCSD 2010
• Subjects: Geochronology; Iceland; Volcanism; Glaciation; [SDU.STU.VO]Sciences of the Universe [physics]/Earth Sciences/Volcanology; [SDE.MCG]Environmental Sciences/Global Changes
• Online Access: https://hal-insu.archives-ouvertes.fr/insu-00446487; https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quageo.2009.08.007

International audience Indisputable geochronology of Icelandic volcanism may contribute to improving the use of volcanic proxies for paleoenvironmental studies. Accurate and reliable ages may also provide some useful constraints in studying the possible relationship between volcanism and deglaciation in Iceland. Given the difficulty of dating accurately young and low potassic volcanic samples from Iceland, the relationship between deglaciation and increasing levels of volcanism has been shown only for the last deglaciation. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the potential of the unspiked K–Ar dating method for dating Quaternary Icelandic volcanic rocks, because we consider that reliable K–Ar ages of interglacial and sub-glacial volcanic products may generate useful data sets for paleoclimatic reconstructions, so enabling the link between glaciation and volcanic activity to be better established. Given the ages and precisions obtained, this study demonstrates that the unspiked K–Ar method is a promising tool for reconstructing the recent volcanic activity in Iceland during glacial and interglacial intervals.