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Geochronology of Quaternary Tephra Deposits

  • Conference paper
Tephra Studies

Part of the book series: NATO Advanced Study Institutes Series ((ASIC,volume 75))

Abstract

Three radiometric methods have been used to date Quaternary tephra: fission-track (F-T), K-Ar, and radiocarbon (C-14). The fission-track and K~Ar methods provide direct ages for the tephra because they date phenocrysts from the source magma that were deposited by the eruption cloud. Radiocarbon dating provides only indirect ages because the carbon used in this method comes from material, such as pre-existing wood, included in the tephra during deposition or collected from underlying or overlying strata.

Contamination of the sample is a problem with all three methods. In both the F-T and K-Ar method the contamination is usually by older, detrital minerals, which are incorporated in the tephra during eruption or deposition. However, primary zircons can be identified by adhering glass, and sanidine can be easily distinguished from detrital microcline or orthoclase. The roots of plants and animal burrows can also provide a conduit for contamination to enter the tephra at any time after deposition. This latter source of contamination can be minimized by careful sampling. Samples used for the C-14 method can be contaminated by both older and younger carbon at any time during their history.

Each method has its own analytical problems and limitations. For all practical purposes, the C-14 method is limited to samples less than 50,000 years old, although newly developed techniques may increase this limit. The fission-track method can routinely date zircon and glass shards that are older than 100,000 years. Glass shards and zircon have been dated from tephra younger than 100,000 years, but the error can be as large as ± 100%.

If the zircon contains abnormally high U content (>1000 ppm), ages less than 100,000 years with moderate precision are possible. The younger limits of K-Ar depend on the material to be dated. Sanidine can be routinely dated at ages greater than 70,000 years, but the practical younger limit of plagioclase is about 200,000 years. Dating biotite, because of its high surface area and large quantities of absorbed atmospheric argon, is a problem at ages less than a million years. In rare circumstances some minerals with high potassium contents can be reliably dated as young as 30,000 years.

Several examples of Quaternary tephra dated by these methods and the problems encountered will be cited. Examples include: Salmon Springs ash (Washington), Bailey ash (California), Pearlette family ash beds (western U.S.A.), Bishop ash (western U.S.A.), the Mount St. Helens tephras (western U.S.A. and Canada), and the tephra at Vrica (Italy).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. U.S. Geological Survey, Federal Center, Denver, Colorado, 80225, USA

    C. W. Naeser, N. D. Briggs, J. D. Obradovich & G. A. Izett

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  1. C. W. Naeser
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  2. N. D. Briggs
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  3. J. D. Obradovich
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  4. G. A. Izett
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Geology, Arizona State University, Tempe, USA

    S. Self

  2. Department of Earth Sciences, University of Cambridge, England

    R. S. J. Sparks

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Naeser, C.W., Briggs, N.D., Obradovich, J.D., Izett, G.A. (1981). Geochronology of Quaternary Tephra Deposits. In: Self, S., Sparks, R.S.J. (eds) Tephra Studies. NATO Advanced Study Institutes Series, vol 75. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-009-8537-7_2

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