Revised chronology of the youngest volcanoes of the chaîne des puys (french Massif central)

Abstract

The chronology of major, young (< 15 ka) volcanoes of the central part of the Chaîne des Puys has been revised by means of tephrostratigraphy, thermoluminescence dating and radiocarbon dating. The previously assumed relative chronology between volcanoes like Pariou and Chopine was inverted; more accurate numerical ages were obtained, as exampled in the case of Côme volcano. This revision also includes previously unknown eruptions. Compilation of all available data suggests that an active volcanic period, marked by about two to three eruptions per millennium, terminated about 7 ka ago. This is an issue for interpreting the volcanism of the Chaîne des Puys during both Upper Pleistocene and Holocene. It seems to mark the end of a cycle, initiated about 80 ka ago, of feeding from a deep reservoir before magma differentiation in a system of shallow level magma chambers.