Ultra-distal Kamchatkan ash on Arctic Svalbard: Towards hemispheric cryptotephra correlation

• Main Authors: van der Bilt, WGM, Lane, CS, Bakke, J
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Elsevier 2017
• Subjects: Holocene; cryptotephra; Arctic; Pacific; Svalbard; Bergen; Atlantic Arctic; Atlantic-Arctic
• Online Access: https://www.repository.cam.ac.uk/handle/1810/263643; https://doi.org/10.17863/CAM.9001

Rapidly deposited and geochemically distinct volcanic ash (tephra) markers represent a powerful chronological tool that enables precise dating and correlation of geological archives. Recent analytical advances now allow fingerprinting of non-visible ash (cryptotephra) over thousands of kilometers. This has opened up tantalizing possibilities for the intercontinental synchronization of records. We present geochemical evidence to demonstrate that ash from a Svalbard lake sediment core correlates to the Kamchatkan KS$_2$ eruption. By expanding the known dispersal range of cryptotephra by thousands of kilometers and linking the Pacific and Atlantic Arctic, this study raises cryptotephra analysis to a new level. Also, the presented findings mark a step towards a hemispheric tephrochronological framework. Finally, this study highlights the importance of looking beyond proximal volcanic sources to find a correlation. This study has received funding from the Norwegian Research Council through the project «Shifting Climate States of the Polar Regions» (210004) as well as the «INTIMATE» COST action (ES0907) and the alminnelige naturvitenskapelige Research Fund of the University of Bergen.