Cooper, CL, Swindles, GT orcid.org/0000-0001-8039-1790, Watson, EJ et al. (4 more authors) (2019) Evaluating tephrochronology in the permafrost peatlands of Northern Sweden. Quaternary Geochronology, 50. pp. 16-28. ISSN 1871-1014
Abstract
Tephrochronology is an increasingly important tool for the dating of sediment and peat profiles for palaeoecological, palaeoclimatic and archaeological research. However, although much work has been done on tephra in temperate peatlands, there have been very few in-depth investigations of permafrost peatlands. Here we present the analysis of nine peatland cores from Abisko, northern Sweden, and show that the presence of tephra layers may be highly variable even over a scale of <10 km. Using electron probe microanalysis (EPMA) combined with age-depth profiles compiled from radiocarbon (14C) and 210Pb dating of peat records, we identify the Hekla 1104, Hekla 1158, Hekla-Selsund and the Hekla 4 tephra layers. We also infer the presence of the Askja 1875 tephra, in addition to an unassigned tephra dating from between 1971–1987 AD in two separate cores. Five of the nine analysed cores do not contain distinct tephra layers. Volcanic ash deposits in northern Scandinavia are subject to both regional-scale variations in climate and atmospheric circulation, and local-scale variations on the order of tens of kilometres in topography, vegetation, snow cover, and ground permeability. The extreme inconsistency of tephra preservation within a small study area (∼3000 km2) brings into question the reliability of tephrochronology within permafrost peatlands, and highlights the necessity of alternative methods for dating peat profiles in this region.
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
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Authors/Creators: |
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Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | (c) 2018, Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. This is an author produced version of a paper published in Quaternary Geochronology. Uploaded in accordance with the publisher's self-archiving policy. |
Keywords: | Tephra; Peatlands; Permafrost; Glass preservation; Tephrochronology |
Dates: |
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Institution: | The University of Leeds |
Academic Units: | The University of Leeds > Faculty of Environment (Leeds) > School of Earth and Environment (Leeds) > Inst of Geophysics and Tectonics (IGT) (Leeds) The University of Leeds > Faculty of Environment (Leeds) > School of Geography (Leeds) > Ecology & Global Change (Leeds) |
Depositing User: | Symplectic Publications |
Date Deposited: | 06 Nov 2018 17:35 |
Last Modified: | 24 Nov 2020 17:05 |
Status: | Published |
Publisher: | Elsevier |
Identification Number: | 10.1016/j.quageo.2018.11.001 |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:138132 |