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GEOSCIENCE SEMINAR - by Esther Gudmundsdottir, University of Iceland

Icelandic tephra layers in Quaternary terrestrial and marine sediments: applications and potentials

Info about event

Time

Thursday 6 June 2013,  at 14:15 - 15:15

Location

Geoscience, the auditorium 1671-137

Abstract

Interest in tephra and tephrochronology has been growing during the last decades.  Tephra is formed instantaneously on a geological time scale and preserved in various environments thus ideal to correlate records over large regions, both in time and space. Consequently tephrochronology has become an important tool in Quaternary studies. Furthermore the application of tephrochronology and stratigraphy has been successful in gathering information on various aspects of past volcanism, such as eruption frequency, history and volume. Icelandic tephra layers from marine and lacustrine Quaternary environments have proven to be very useful for dating and correlation purposes and to obtain information on volcanism in Iceland. Detailed tephrochronological studies on marine sediment on the North Iceland shelf and lake sediments in east Iceland have identified dozens of tephra layers. Because the preservation potential of tephra in the terrestrial environment in Iceland was poor in early Holocene times and records seldom extend beyond 9000 years, tephra layers in marine sediments can add significantly to the eruption history in the early Holocene and beyond.


All are welcome.
Coffee/tea and cakes served as uaual.