Late Quaternary distal tephra-fall deposits in lacustrine sediments, Kenai Peninsula, Alaska

Bibliographic Data

ID24087300
AuthorsChristian S de Fontaine, Darrell S Kaufman (0000-0002-7572-1414, Northern Arizona University, corresponding author), R Scott Anderson (0000-0002-7037-4150, Northern Arizona University), Al Werner (Mount Holyoke College), Christopher F Waythomas (0000-0002-3898-272X, United States Geological Survey), Thomas A Brown (0000-0002-1006-1099, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory)
Year2007
Volume68
Issue1
Pages64-78
Publication date2007-07-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueQuaternary Research (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0033-5894 • E-ISSN: 1096-0287
PublisherCambridge University Press (CUP) (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1016/j.yqres.2007.03.006
OpenAlexW2117214541
LanguageEN
Citations received11
References cited23

Tephra-fall deposits from Cook Inlet volcanoes were detected in sediment cores from Tustumena and Paradox Lakes, Kenai Peninsula, Alaska, using magnetic susceptibility and petrography. The ages of tephra layers were estimated using 21 14 C ages on macrofossils. Tephras layers are typically fine, gray ash, 1–5 mm thick, and composed of varying proportions of glass shards, pumice, and glass-coated phenocrysts. Of the two lakes, Paradox Lake contained a higher frequency of tephra (0.8 tephra/100 yr; 109 over the 13,200-yr record). The unusually large number of tephra in this lake relative to others previously studied in the area is attributed to the lake's physiography, sedimentology, and limnology. The frequency of ash fall was not constant through the Holocene. In Paradox Lake, tephra layers are absent between ca. 800–2200, 3800–4800, and 9000–10,300 cal yr BP, despite continuously layered lacustrine sediment. In contrast, between 5000 and 9000 cal yr BP, an average of 1.7 tephra layers are present per 100 yr. The peak period of tephra fall (7000–9000 cal yr BP; 2.6 tephra/100 yr) in Paradox Lake is consistent with the increase in volcanism between 7000 and 9000 yr ago recorded in the Greenland ice cores.

Geochemistry · Geomorphology · Holocene · Lapilli · Macrofossil · Phenocryst · Pumice · Pyroclastic rock · Quaternary · Sedimentology · Tephra · Volcanic rock · Volcano · Geological Studies and Exploration · Geology · Geology and Paleoclimatology Research · Methane Hydrates and Related Phenomena · Paleontology