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Towards a Holocene tephrochronology for the Faroe Islands, North Atlantic

Wastegård, Stefan ; Gudmundsdóttir, Esther R. ; Lind, Ewa M. ; Timms, Rhys G.O. ; Björck, Svante LU ; Hannon, Gina E. ; Olsen, Jesper and Rundgren, Mats LU (2018) In Quaternary Science Reviews 195. p.195-214
Abstract

The Faroe Islands hold a key position in the North Atlantic region for tephra studies due to their relative proximity to Iceland. Several tephras have been described over the last 50 years in peat and lake sediment sequences, including the type sites for the Saksunarvatn and Mjáuvøtn tephras. Here we present a comprehensive overview of Holocene tephras found on the Faroe Island. In total 23 tephra layers are described including visible macrotephras such as the Saksunarvatn and Hekla 4 tephras and several cryptotephras. The importance of tephras originally described from the Faroe Islands is highlighted and previously unpublished results are included. In addition, full datasets for several sites are published here for the first time. The... (More)

The Faroe Islands hold a key position in the North Atlantic region for tephra studies due to their relative proximity to Iceland. Several tephras have been described over the last 50 years in peat and lake sediment sequences, including the type sites for the Saksunarvatn and Mjáuvøtn tephras. Here we present a comprehensive overview of Holocene tephras found on the Faroe Island. In total 23 tephra layers are described including visible macrotephras such as the Saksunarvatn and Hekla 4 tephras and several cryptotephras. The importance of tephras originally described from the Faroe Islands is highlighted and previously unpublished results are included. In addition, full datasets for several sites are published here for the first time. The Saksunarvatn Ash, now considered to be the result of several eruptions rather than one major eruption, can be separated into two phases on the Faroe Islands; one early phase with two precursor eruptions with lower MgO concentrations (4.5–5.0 wt%) than the main eruption and a later phase with higher MgO concentrations (5.5–6.0 wt%), including the visible Saksunarvatn Ash. The Tjørnuvík Tephra, previously considered to be a primary deposit, is now interpreted as a reworked tephra with material from at least two middle Holocene eruptions of Hekla. Several of the tephras identified on the Faroe Islands provide useful isochrons for climate events during the Holocene.

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author
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organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
keywords
Faroe Islands, Holocene, North Atlantic, Paleoclimatology, Quaternary
in
Quaternary Science Reviews
volume
195
pages
20 pages
publisher
Elsevier
external identifiers
  • scopus:85050465468
ISSN
0277-3791
DOI
10.1016/j.quascirev.2018.07.024
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
3f904e30-b4e4-45d3-a233-9be3916bd7ea
date added to LUP
2018-08-15 15:01:50
date last changed
2022-03-17 08:46:11
@article{3f904e30-b4e4-45d3-a233-9be3916bd7ea,
  abstract     = {{<p>The Faroe Islands hold a key position in the North Atlantic region for tephra studies due to their relative proximity to Iceland. Several tephras have been described over the last 50 years in peat and lake sediment sequences, including the type sites for the Saksunarvatn and Mjáuvøtn tephras. Here we present a comprehensive overview of Holocene tephras found on the Faroe Island. In total 23 tephra layers are described including visible macrotephras such as the Saksunarvatn and Hekla 4 tephras and several cryptotephras. The importance of tephras originally described from the Faroe Islands is highlighted and previously unpublished results are included. In addition, full datasets for several sites are published here for the first time. The Saksunarvatn Ash, now considered to be the result of several eruptions rather than one major eruption, can be separated into two phases on the Faroe Islands; one early phase with two precursor eruptions with lower MgO concentrations (4.5–5.0 wt%) than the main eruption and a later phase with higher MgO concentrations (5.5–6.0 wt%), including the visible Saksunarvatn Ash. The Tjørnuvík Tephra, previously considered to be a primary deposit, is now interpreted as a reworked tephra with material from at least two middle Holocene eruptions of Hekla. Several of the tephras identified on the Faroe Islands provide useful isochrons for climate events during the Holocene.</p>}},
  author       = {{Wastegård, Stefan and Gudmundsdóttir, Esther R. and Lind, Ewa M. and Timms, Rhys G.O. and Björck, Svante and Hannon, Gina E. and Olsen, Jesper and Rundgren, Mats}},
  issn         = {{0277-3791}},
  keywords     = {{Faroe Islands; Holocene; North Atlantic; Paleoclimatology; Quaternary}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  month        = {{09}},
  pages        = {{195--214}},
  publisher    = {{Elsevier}},
  series       = {{Quaternary Science Reviews}},
  title        = {{Towards a Holocene tephrochronology for the Faroe Islands, North Atlantic}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.quascirev.2018.07.024}},
  doi          = {{10.1016/j.quascirev.2018.07.024}},
  volume       = {{195}},
  year         = {{2018}},
}