Lyell Collection
Geological Society, London, Special Publications
Lyell Centre  |   Lyell Collection  |   Subscriptions   |   Geological Society  |   Email alerts  |   Online bookshop  |   Help

Keywords:
Author:
Advanced search>>
This Article
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow References
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Right arrow Citation Map
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrow Request Permissions
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via HighWire
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Hunt, J. B.
Right arrow Articles by Peacock, J. D.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
GeoRef
Right arrow GeoRef Citation
Geological Society, London, Special Publications; 1995; v. 90; p. 227-248;
DOI: 10.1144/GSL.SP.1995.090.01.15
© 1995 Geological Society of London

The tephrochronology and radiocarbon dating of North Atlantic, Late-Quaternary sediments: an example from the St. Kilda Basin

John B. Hunt1, Nigel G. T. Fannin3, Peter G. Hill2 & J. Douglas Peacock3,4

1 Department of Geography & Geology, Cheltenham & Gloucester College of Higher Education, Francis Close Hall, Swindon Road, Cheltenham, GL50 3AZ, UK
2 Department of Geology & Geophysics, University of Edinburgh, The Grant Institute, West Mains Road, Edinburgh EH9 3JW, UK
3 British Geological Survey, Murchison House, Kings Buildings, West Mains Road, Edinburgh EH9 3LA, UK
4 , 18 McLaren Road, Edinburgh EH9 2BN, UK

A sequence of disseminated basaltic tephras of Icelandic provenance has been investigated in sediments of Late Quaternary age recovered from the St Kilda Basin, on the Scottish continental shelf. The tephras were deposited from gradually melting rafted pack ice, transported on an anti-clockwise surface current originating to the north of Iceland. The presence of these ice-rafted tephras extends the zone of this current activity well beyond its previously documented western limit, demonstrating current impingement on the UK continental shelf. The evidence of ice-rafting, together with the biostratigraphy and a series of AMS 14C dates, confirm that this deposition occurred during the Younger Dryas chronozone. Electron probe microanalysis (EPMA) of glass-shard geochemistry is used to ralate the St Kilda tephras to tephras found in marine and terrestrial deposits throughout the North Atlantic area, and to possible volcanic centres in Iceland. The joint role of tephrochronology and radiocarbon dating is discussed in relation to the comparative reliability of marine and terrestrial timescales. Problems with the chronology of the terrestrial equivalents of these tephras in Northern Iceland are highlighted.





This article has been cited by other articles:


Home page
 Geological Society, London, Special PublicationsHome page
W. E. N. Austin and D. Kroon
Late glacial sedimentology, foraminifera and stable isotope stratigraphy of the Hebridean Continental Shelf, northwest Scotland
Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 1996; 111: 187 - 213.
[Abstract] [PDF]