Project Details
Projekt
TephroBridge: Establishing a TEPHROstratigraphy for the Eastern Anatolian Volcanic Provenance to BRIDGE the gap in the knowledge in eastern Mediterranean chronology
Subject Area
Geology
Term
since 2024
Project identifier
Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 537530728
The eastern Mediterranean is highly sensitive to abrupt climatic changes due to its location at the confluence of distinct atmospheric circulations. Past environmental records offer insights into the climatic drivers and environmental responses. However, chronological uncertainties present challenges in fully understanding potential regional climatic (a)synchronies. The method of using tephra (volcanic ash), both visible and non-visible (cryptotephra), can be a powerful chronological tool to overcome these problems. By geochemically characterising volcanic sources and their eruptions, tephra correlations can offer precise dating and synchronous time markers (isochrones), enabling the linking and dating of records across regions. The proposed research of TephroBridge aims to establish a detailed tephrostratigraphy for one such important volcanic centre, the Eastern Anatolian Volcanic Province (EAVP). The volcanoes of Nemrut and Süphan are significant sources of tephra in the region, found in numerous palaeoclimatic and archaeological records, but a comprehensive tephrostratigraphy is still lacking. The study plans to geochemically characterise the tephra layers from Lake Van's Ahlat Ridge core (5034-2) using techniques like electron probe micro-analysis (EPMA) and LA-ICP-MS. Petrographic identification, morphological descriptions, and thin section analysis will further characterise the tephra layers. The research aims to correlate these newly geochemically analysed tephra layers, the major, minor, and trace element compositions, with cryptotephra layers found in the Dead Sea record and other important palaeoclimatic and archaeological records in the region. The study's future success is demonstrated so far by the TephroMed project, which correlated cryptotephra layers from the Dead Sea to Lake Van's tephra layers, refining the Levant's chronology and providing insights into past climatic variability. Overall, this research project will establish a comprehensive tephrostratigraphic framework for the EAVP. This will enable improved synchronisation of regional records using tephra layers to enhance insights into past climatic responses in the eastern Mediterranean, bridging the gap in knowledge of the current Mediterranean chronology.
DFG Programme
Infrastructure Priority Programmes
International Connection
Israel, Turkey, United Kingdom
Co-Investigators
Dr. Ina Neugebauer; Privatdozent Dr. Norbert R. Nowaczyk
