Abstract
The Late Pleistocene Campanian Ignimbrite (CI) super-eruption (Southern Italy) is the largest known volcanic event in the Mediterranean area. The CI tephra is widely dispersed through western Eurasia and occurs in close stratigraphic association with significant palaeoclimatic and Palaeolithic cultural events. Here we present new high-precision 14C (34.29 ± 0.09 14C kyr BP, 1σ) and 40Ar/39Ar (39.85 ± 0.14 ka, 95% confidence level) dating results for the age of the CI eruption, which substantially improve upon or augment previous age determinations and permit fuller exploitation of the chronological potential of the CI tephra marker. These results provide a robust pair of 14C and 40Ar/39Ar ages for refining both the radiocarbon calibration curve and the Late Pleistocene time-scale at ca. 40 ka. In addition, these new age constraints provide compelling chronological evidence for the significance of the combined influence of the CI eruption and Heinrich Event 4 on European climate and potentially evolutionary processes of the Early Upper Palaeolithic.
Highlights
MethodsThe CI deposits containing the charred tree branch analysed here was exposed in a quarry close to the town of Dugenta (Fig. 1b; 41°07′1 6.79′′N, 14°26′32.55′′E)
We warmly thank Maurizio Cice, geologist of the company SIA srl, who provide us the CI Tuff sample containing the charred tree branch investigated in present study, as well as all the relevant information on the location of the quarry and the precise stratigraphic position of the CI block
The paired atmospheric radiocarbon and 40Ar/39Ar dating of the CI eruption provide the first reliable intercalibrated 14C-40Ar/39Ar age for this super-tephra, which represents a robust data for refining the Late Pleistocene time-scale and the radiocarbon calibration curve
Summary
The CI deposits containing the charred tree branch analysed here was exposed in a quarry close to the town of Dugenta (Fig. 1b; 41°07′1 6.79′′N, 14°26′32.55′′E). Our sample was found embedded in the yellow tuff facies (Fig. 1c), and likely represents the branch of a tree entrained by the pyroclastic flow during runout. 50) indicates that the emplacement of the CI pyroclastic flow led to the uprooting and burning of woody vegetation living in the area at the time of the eruption. This implies that, ignoring the negligible pre-eruption age of the tree, the sample analysed here is coeval with the eruption
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
