High-resolution stalagmite stratigraphy supports the Late Holocene tephrochronology of southernmost Patagonia
Klaes, Bjoern
Universitat Trier
Woerner, Gerhard
University of Gottingen
Kremer, Katrina
Swiss Federal Institutes of Technology Domain
Simon, Klaus
University of Gottingen
Kronz, Andreas
University of Gottingen
Scholz, Denis
Johannes Gutenberg University of Mainz
Mueller, Carsten W.
University of Copenhagen
Hoeschen, Carmen
Technical University of Munich
Struck, Julian
Friedrich Schiller University of Jena
Arz, Helge Wolfgang
Leibniz Institut fur Ostseeforschung Warnemunde
Thiele-Bruhn, Soeren
Universitat Trier
Schimpf, Daniel
Universitat Trier
Kilian, Rolf
Journal
Communications Earth and Environment
ISSN
2662-4435
Open Access
gold
Volume
3
Volcanic ash layers are important markers for the chronostratigraphy of paleoclimate and paleoenvironmental archives at the southern tip of South America. However, this requires that tephras are well-dated. We report geochemical data from stalagmite MA1 formed in a non-karst cave near Mt. Burney volcano in southernmost Patagonia (similar to 53 degrees S). High-resolution LA-ICP-MS analyses, SEM imagery, EPMA data, and NanoSIMS enable to identify volcanogenic signals during the last 4.5 kyrs from sub-annual trace element variations and tephra particles in distinct laminae. Our new Th-230/U-chronology of MA1 provides precise dating of tephra from Mt. Burney (MB) and, probably, Aguilera (A) at 4,216 (+93)/(-193) yrs BP (MB2), 2,291 +/- 33 yrs BP (MB3), 853 (+41)/(-60) yrs BP (MB4) and 2,978 (+91)/(-104) yrs BP (A(1)). This unique high-resolution record holds potential to date further eruptions from Southern Andean volcanoes for the tephrochronology in this critical region, and potentially also large-volume explosive volcanism off South America.
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