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The Age, Origin, and Volcanological Significance of the Y-5 Ash Layer in the Mediterranean

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

Robert Thunell ,
Alan Federman ,
Stephen Sparks  and
Douglas Williams
Robert Thunell
Affiliation:
Graduate School of Oceanography, University of Rhode Island, Kingston, Rhode Island 02881
Alan Federman
Affiliation:
Graduate School of Oceanography, University of Rhode Island, Kingston, Rhode Island 02881
Stephen Sparks
Affiliation:
Graduate School of Oceanography, University of Rhode Island, Kingston, Rhode Island 02881
Douglas Williams
Affiliation:
Department of Geology, University of South Carolina, Columbia, South Carolina 29208
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Abstract

The Y-5 ash is the most widespread layer in deep-sea sediments from the eastern Mediterranean. This ash layer was previously correlated with the Citara-Serrara tuff on Ischia Island and dated at approximately 25,000 yr B.P. New data on the glass chemistry of the Y-5 ash and pyroclastic deposits from the Neopolitan volcanic province suggest that the layer is correlative with the large-volume Campanian ignimbrite and not with the deposit from Ischia Island. The volume of the Y-5 ash is approximately 65 km3 which is comparable in magnitude to the volume of the Campanian ignimbrite. An interpolated age of approximately 38,000 yr B.P. is estimated based on sedimentation rates derived from δ18O stratigraphy. There is a discrepancy between this estimate and previously reported radiocarbon ages which range from 24,000 to 35,000 yr B.P. We propose that the “Campanian tuff ash layer” should be adopted as the full stratigraphic name for the Y-5 ash. The deep-sea ash layer is divisible into two units in proximal localities, probably correlating with two major phases of the eruption: plinian and ignimbrite.

Type
Research Article
Information
Quaternary Research , Volume 12 , Issue 2 , September 1979 , pp. 241 - 253
Copyright
University of Washington

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