Volcanism and the Greenland ice-cores: a new eruptive history and ash dispersal in the pan-Arctic and beyond

Tephra deposits preserved in geological sequences, that are far removed from volcanic centres, are invaluable for reconstructing volcanic histories and ash dispersal patterns. Such distal deposits provide a new outlook on eruptive frequency and far-travelled ash clouds, particularly in regions where the near-field records are discontinuous and fragmentary. Annually-resolved Greenland ice-cores act as unique repositories that are ideally located to receive and preserve ash from a range of volcanic centres in the mid-latitudes and the Arctic region. In recent years, a renewed search for tephra in the Greenland ice-cores has led to the development of a new eruptive history record that extends from the last interglacial to the Holocene period. This new record is dominated by cryptotephra deposits composed of a very low concentration of glass shards and identified by microscopic examination of long and continuous intervals of NGRIP, NEEM and GRIP ice. Over 200 tephra deposits make up this record and major and trace element signatures indicate that the majority originate from Icelandic eruptions, but at least 16 are derived from more distant North Pacific sources such as Kamchatka, Alaska, Cascades and Japan. Although the majority of these deposits are thought to relate to previously undocumented eruptions, others are correlated to well-known events such as Hekla-4 (4.3 ka b2k: Iceland), Ksudach (7.2 ka b2k: Kamchatka), Mazama (7.6 ka b2k: Cascades) and Towada (15.7 ka b2k: Japan). The GICC05 ice-core timescale provide age constraints for each event and this new synthesis is presented against the Greenland climatostratigraphy and volcanic aerosol record. This catalogue of both local and trans-continental ash fall events contribute towards hazard assessments as well as precise correlation of ice, marine and terrestrial palaeorecords in the North Atlantic and Pacific regions.