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Identification of the Fugloyarbanki tephra in the NGRIP ice core: a key tie‐point for marine and ice‐core sequences during the last glacial period
Author(s) -
Davies S. M.,
Wastegård S.,
Rasmussen T. L.,
Svensson A.,
Johnsen S. J.,
Steffensen J. P.,
Andersen K. K.
Publication year - 2008
Publication title -
journal of quaternary science
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.142
H-Index - 94
eISSN - 1099-1417
pISSN - 0267-8179
DOI - 10.1002/jqs.1182
Subject(s) - tephra , tephrochronology , ice core , geology , glacial period , radiocarbon dating , volcano , chronology , period (music) , horizon , physical geography , paleontology , oceanography , climatology , geography , physics , astronomy , acoustics
A visible tephra horizon in the NGRIP ice core has been identified by geochemical analysis as the Fugloyarbanki Tephra, a widespread marker horizon in marine cores from the Faroe Islands area and the northern North Atlantic. An age of 26 740 ± 390 yr b2k (1 σ uncertainty) is derived for this tephra according to the new Greenland Ice Core Chronology (GICC05) based on multi‐parameter counting of annual layers. Detection of this tephra for the first time within the NGRIP ice core provides a key tie‐point between marine and ice‐core records during the transition between MIS 3 and 2. Identification of this volcanic event within the Greenland records demonstrates the future potential of using tephrochronology to precisely correlate palaeoarchives in widely separated localities that span the last glacial period, as well as providing a potential method for examining the extent of the radiocarbon marine reservoir effect at this time. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.