Description: Here we present the first tephrostratigraphic, palaeomagnetic, and multiproxy data from a new ~98 m deep sediment core retrieved from the Fucino Basin, central Italy, spanning the last ~430 kyr. Palaeoenvironmental proxy data (Ca-XRF, gamma ray and magnetic susceptibility) show a cyclical variability related to interglacial-glacial cycles since the Marine Isotope Stage (MIS) 12-MIS 11 transition. More than 130 tephra layers are visible to the naked eye, 11 of which were analysed (glass-WDS) and successfully correlated to known eruptions and/or other equivalent tephra. In addition to tephra already recognised in the previously investigated cores spanning the last 190 kyr, we identified for the first time tephra from the eruptions of: Tufo Giallo di Sacrofano, Sabatini (288.0 ± 2.0 ka); Villa Senni, Colli Albani (367.5 ± 1.6 ka); Pozzolane Nere and its precursor, Colli Albani (405.0 ± 2.0 ka, and 407.1 ± 4.2 ka, respectively) and Castel Broco, Vulsini (419e490 ka). The latter occurs at the bottom of the core and has been 40Ar/39Ar dated at 424.3 ± 3.2 ka, thus providing a robust chronological constrain for both the eruption itself and the base of the investigated succession. Direct 40Ar/39Ar dating and tephra geochemical fingerprinting provide a preliminary radioisotopic-based chronological framework for the MIS 11-MIS 7 interval, which represent a foundation for the forthcoming multiproxy studies and for investigating the remaining ~110 tephra layers that are recorded within this interval. Such future developments will contribute towards an improved MIS 11-MIS 7 Mediterranean tephrostratigraphy, which is still poorly explored and exploited.

Description: Published

Description: 106003

Description: 1V. Storia eruttiva

Description: 1A. Geomagnetismo e Paleomagnetismo

Description: 5A. Ricerche polari e paleoclima

Description: JCR Journal

Description: Because continuous and high-resolution records are scarce in the polar Urals, a multiproxy study was carried out on a 54 m long sediment succession (Co1321) from Lake Bolshoye Shchuchye. The sedimentological, geochemical, pollen and chironomid data suggest that glaciers occupied the lake's catchment during the cold and dry MIS 2 and document a change in ice extent around 23.5–18 cal ka bp. Subsequently, meltwater input, sediment supply and erosional activity decreased as local glaciers progressively melted. The vegetation around the lake comprised open, herb and grass-dominated tundra-steppe until the Bølling-Allerød, but shows a distinct change to probably moister conditions around 17–16 cal ka bp. Local glaciers completely disappeared during the Bølling-Allerød, when summer air temperatures were similar to today and low shrub tundra became established. The Younger Dryas is confined by distinct shifts in the pollen and chironomid records pointing to drier conditions. The Holocene is characterised by a denser vegetation cover, stabilised soil conditions and decreased minerogenic input, especially during the local thermal maximum between c. 10 and 5 cal ka bp. Subsequently, present-day vegetation developed and summer air temperatures decreased to modern, except for two intervals, which may represent the Little Ice Age and Medieval Warm Period.

Description: As Earth's atmospheric temperatures and human populations increase, more people are becoming vulnerable to natural and human-induced disasters. This is particularly true in Central America, where the growing human population is experiencing climate extremes (droughts and floods), and the region is susceptible to geological hazards, such as earthquakes and volcanic eruptions, and environmental deterioration in many forms (soil erosion, lake eutrophication, heavy metal contamination, etc.). Instrumental and historical data from the region are insufficient to understand and document past hazards, a necessary first step for mitigating future risks. Long, continuous, well-resolved geological records can, however, provide a window into past climate and environmental changes that can be used to better predict future conditions in the region. The Lake Izabal Basin (LIB), in eastern Guatemala, contains the longest known continental records of tectonics, climate, and environmental change in the northern Neotropics. The basin is a pull-apart depression that developed along the North American and Caribbean plate boundary ∼ 12 Myr ago and contains 〉 4 km of sediment. The sedimentological archive in the LIB records the interplay among several Earth System processes. Consequently, exploration of sediments in the basin can provide key information concerning: (1) tectonic deformation and earthquake history along the plate boundary; (2) the timing and causes of volcanism from the Central American Volcanic Arc; and (3) hydroclimatic, ecologic, and geomicrobiological responses to different climate and environmental states. To evaluate the LIB as a potential site for scientific drilling, 65 scientists from 13 countries and 33 institutions met in Antigua, Guatemala, in August 2022 under the auspices of the International Continental Scientific Drilling Program (ICDP) and the US National Science Foundation (NSF). Several working groups developed scientific questions and overarching hypotheses that could be addressed by drilling the LIB and identified optimal coring sites and instrumentation needed to achieve the project goals. The group also discussed logistical challenges and outreach opportunities. The project is not only an outstanding opportunity to improve our scientific understanding of seismotectonic, volcanic, paleoclimatic, paleoecologic, and paleobiologic processes that operate in the tropics of Central America, but it is also an opportunity to improve understanding of multiple geological hazards and communicate that knowledge to help increase the resilience of at-risk Central American communities.

Description: The site Balta Alba Kurgan (BAK) in Romania was studied in the frame of a multi-method dating approach, including optical stimulated luminescence, radiocarbon dating, magnetic stratigraphy and tephrochronology. Here, we present the results of the magnetic stratigraphy approach. Oriented samples obtained from the sub-sections BAK2 and BAK4 were combined to the BAK pmag composite profile by the use of variations of the magnetic susceptibility. In order to obtain age control, variations of the magnetic susceptibility and the relative paleointensity were correlated to independently dated reference records. The provided data set comprises the data of the oriented samples of the BAK pmag composite profile used for the correlations as well as the tie points used for calculation of the age models by linear interpolation. Due to a lack of reference data, the inclination and declination of the characteristic remanent magnetization was not used for paleomagnetic secular variation stratigraphy. However, for the use in future studies we provide these paleomagnetic directional data here.