No evidence for tephra in Greenland from the historic eruption of Vesuvius in 79 CE: implications for geochronology and paleoclimatology
Volcanic fallout in polar ice sheets provides important opportunities to date and correlate ice-core records as well as to investigate the environmental impacts of eruptions. Only the geochemical characterization of volcanic ash (tephra) embedded in the ice strata can confirm the source of the erupt...
Published in: | Climate of the Past |
---|---|
Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , |
Format: | Article in Journal/Newspaper |
Language: | English |
Published: |
Copernicus Publications
2022
|
Subjects: | |
Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-18-45-2022 https://doaj.org/article/1b6913a7267d41d8890e3db711fab89f |
id |
ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:1b6913a7267d41d8890e3db711fab89f |
---|---|
record_format |
openpolar |
spelling |
ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:1b6913a7267d41d8890e3db711fab89f 2023-05-15T16:26:56+02:00 No evidence for tephra in Greenland from the historic eruption of Vesuvius in 79 CE: implications for geochronology and paleoclimatology G. Plunkett M. Sigl H. F. Schwaiger E. L. Tomlinson M. Toohey J. R. McConnell J. R. Pilcher T. Hasegawa C. Siebe 2022-01-01T00:00:00Z https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-18-45-2022 https://doaj.org/article/1b6913a7267d41d8890e3db711fab89f EN eng Copernicus Publications https://cp.copernicus.org/articles/18/45/2022/cp-18-45-2022.pdf https://doaj.org/toc/1814-9324 https://doaj.org/toc/1814-9332 doi:10.5194/cp-18-45-2022 1814-9324 1814-9332 https://doaj.org/article/1b6913a7267d41d8890e3db711fab89f Climate of the Past, Vol 18, Pp 45-65 (2022) Environmental pollution TD172-193.5 Environmental protection TD169-171.8 Environmental sciences GE1-350 article 2022 ftdoajarticles https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-18-45-2022 2022-12-30T20:23:31Z Volcanic fallout in polar ice sheets provides important opportunities to date and correlate ice-core records as well as to investigate the environmental impacts of eruptions. Only the geochemical characterization of volcanic ash (tephra) embedded in the ice strata can confirm the source of the eruption, however, and is a requisite if historical eruption ages are to be used as valid chronological checks on annual ice layer counting. Here we report the investigation of ash particles in a Greenland ice core that are associated with a volcanic sulfuric acid layer previously attributed to the 79 CE eruption of Vesuvius. Major and trace element composition of the particles indicates that the tephra does not derive from Vesuvius but most likely originates from an unidentified eruption in the Aleutian arc. Using ash dispersal modeling, we find that only an eruption large enough to include stratospheric injection is likely to account for the sizable (24–85 µm ) ash particles observed in the Greenland ice at this time. Despite its likely explosivity, this event does not appear to have triggered significant climate perturbations, unlike some other large extratropical eruptions. In light of a recent re-evaluation of the Greenland ice-core chronologies, our findings further challenge the previous assignation of this volcanic event to 79 CE. We highlight the need for the revised Common Era ice-core chronology to be formally accepted by the wider ice-core and climate modeling communities in order to ensure robust age linkages to precisely dated historical and paleoclimate proxy records. Article in Journal/Newspaper Greenland Greenland ice core ice core Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles Greenland Climate of the Past 18 1 45 65 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles |
op_collection_id |
ftdoajarticles |
language |
English |
topic |
Environmental pollution TD172-193.5 Environmental protection TD169-171.8 Environmental sciences GE1-350 |
spellingShingle |
Environmental pollution TD172-193.5 Environmental protection TD169-171.8 Environmental sciences GE1-350 G. Plunkett M. Sigl H. F. Schwaiger E. L. Tomlinson M. Toohey J. R. McConnell J. R. Pilcher T. Hasegawa C. Siebe No evidence for tephra in Greenland from the historic eruption of Vesuvius in 79 CE: implications for geochronology and paleoclimatology |
topic_facet |
Environmental pollution TD172-193.5 Environmental protection TD169-171.8 Environmental sciences GE1-350 |
description |
Volcanic fallout in polar ice sheets provides important opportunities to date and correlate ice-core records as well as to investigate the environmental impacts of eruptions. Only the geochemical characterization of volcanic ash (tephra) embedded in the ice strata can confirm the source of the eruption, however, and is a requisite if historical eruption ages are to be used as valid chronological checks on annual ice layer counting. Here we report the investigation of ash particles in a Greenland ice core that are associated with a volcanic sulfuric acid layer previously attributed to the 79 CE eruption of Vesuvius. Major and trace element composition of the particles indicates that the tephra does not derive from Vesuvius but most likely originates from an unidentified eruption in the Aleutian arc. Using ash dispersal modeling, we find that only an eruption large enough to include stratospheric injection is likely to account for the sizable (24–85 µm ) ash particles observed in the Greenland ice at this time. Despite its likely explosivity, this event does not appear to have triggered significant climate perturbations, unlike some other large extratropical eruptions. In light of a recent re-evaluation of the Greenland ice-core chronologies, our findings further challenge the previous assignation of this volcanic event to 79 CE. We highlight the need for the revised Common Era ice-core chronology to be formally accepted by the wider ice-core and climate modeling communities in order to ensure robust age linkages to precisely dated historical and paleoclimate proxy records. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
G. Plunkett M. Sigl H. F. Schwaiger E. L. Tomlinson M. Toohey J. R. McConnell J. R. Pilcher T. Hasegawa C. Siebe |
author_facet |
G. Plunkett M. Sigl H. F. Schwaiger E. L. Tomlinson M. Toohey J. R. McConnell J. R. Pilcher T. Hasegawa C. Siebe |
author_sort |
G. Plunkett |
title |
No evidence for tephra in Greenland from the historic eruption of Vesuvius in 79 CE: implications for geochronology and paleoclimatology |
title_short |
No evidence for tephra in Greenland from the historic eruption of Vesuvius in 79 CE: implications for geochronology and paleoclimatology |
title_full |
No evidence for tephra in Greenland from the historic eruption of Vesuvius in 79 CE: implications for geochronology and paleoclimatology |
title_fullStr |
No evidence for tephra in Greenland from the historic eruption of Vesuvius in 79 CE: implications for geochronology and paleoclimatology |
title_full_unstemmed |
No evidence for tephra in Greenland from the historic eruption of Vesuvius in 79 CE: implications for geochronology and paleoclimatology |
title_sort |
no evidence for tephra in greenland from the historic eruption of vesuvius in 79 ce: implications for geochronology and paleoclimatology |
publisher |
Copernicus Publications |
publishDate |
2022 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-18-45-2022 https://doaj.org/article/1b6913a7267d41d8890e3db711fab89f |
geographic |
Greenland |
geographic_facet |
Greenland |
genre |
Greenland Greenland ice core ice core |
genre_facet |
Greenland Greenland ice core ice core |
op_source |
Climate of the Past, Vol 18, Pp 45-65 (2022) |
op_relation |
https://cp.copernicus.org/articles/18/45/2022/cp-18-45-2022.pdf https://doaj.org/toc/1814-9324 https://doaj.org/toc/1814-9332 doi:10.5194/cp-18-45-2022 1814-9324 1814-9332 https://doaj.org/article/1b6913a7267d41d8890e3db711fab89f |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-18-45-2022 |
container_title |
Climate of the Past |
container_volume |
18 |
container_issue |
1 |
container_start_page |
45 |
op_container_end_page |
65 |
_version_ |
1766015943419363328 |