Old Crow tephra across eastern Beringia: a single cataclysmic eruption at the close of Marine Isotope Stage 6

• Published in: Quaternary science reviews 2011-08, Vol.30 (17), p.2069-2090
• Main Authors: Preece, S.J., Pearce, N.J.G., Westgate, J.A., Froese, D.G., Jensen, B.J.L., Perkins, W.T.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• ISSN: 0277-3791; 1873-457X
• DOI: 10.1016/j.quascirev.2010.04.020

Old Crow tephra is the largest and most widespread Quaternary eruption presently known in eastern Beringia. Its major- and trace-element geochemistry, Fe-Ti oxides, and stratigraphic and paleoecological context indicate that it is the result of a single cataclysmic eruption. The proximal region may well have experienced tephra fallout from small eruptions just prior to or after the Old Crow event, but there is no evidence to indicate that the distal area was affected. We recalculate the glass fission-track age at 124 ± 10 ka, which, coupled with stratigraphic and paleoenvironmental reconstructions, indicates that deposition occurred prior to development of the last interglacial boreal forest, which suggests a latest Marine Isotope Stage (MIS) 6 age. The bulk tephra volume erupted is estimated by three different approaches, that are in broad agreement at ∼200 km 3, but this result must be considered as tentative given the poor controls on definition of isopachs over such a large area. The source caldera, although presently unrecognized, is located in the eastern Aleutian arc, possibly at or near the Emmons Lake volcanic center.