Eruption age of Kannabe volcano using multi-dating: Implications for age determination of young basaltic lava flow

We estimated the eruption age of Kannabe volcano, located in southwestern Japan. Although the eruption age had been estimated using tephrochronology and K-Ar dating, the precision of its age determination left some room for improvement. The latest eruption age of Kannabe volcano is well constrained by wide spread tephras to ca. 7.2–30 ka. We applied paleomagnetic dating to a basaltic lava and optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) dating to a soil layer, which are associated with the Kannabe volcano. The soil layer above the Kannabe scoria was newly dated to be 21 ± 6 ka, as inferred from OSL dating. We also made paleomagnetic investigation to estimate the eruption age of the Kannabe basaltic lava. Paleomagnetic data of 23 rock samples from six locations in the Kannabe basaltic lava showed good mutual agreement. The average of remanent magnetizations yields declination of 0.3° and inclination of 65.9° with 95% confidence limit of 2.7°. This paleomagnetic direction with a relatively steep inclination is thought to be correlated with the paleomagnetic secular variation data of sediments in Lake Biwa at ca. 21.5 ka. Based on that information from multi-dating, we inferred that the Kannabe volcano erupted at ca. 22 ka. This result presents profound scientific implications for the precise age determination of young basaltic lava flow, for which few dating methods exist.

Évolution morphostructurale du plateau volcano-sédimentaire de Gergovie au Miocène inférieur : implications géodynamiques sur la phase tardi-tectonique du rift de Limagne (Massif central, France)

The Gergovie plateau is a Lower Miocene topographically inverted volcano-sedimentary system located in the monogenetic volcanic field of the Limagne rift Tertiary basin. It is composed of three east–west aligned maars partly covered by a basaltic lava flow. The eruption of the central maar (maar 1) occurred at the Oligocene–Miocene transition, during the first volcanic phase. This phreatomagmatic structure was almost totally cut through by the opening of a second maar (maar 2) during the next eruptive phase. The basaltic lava flow at the summit and the eastern maar (maar 3) were placed during a third and last eruptive phase during the Middle or Upper Burdigalian (∼19–16 Ma). Between these periods of volcanism, three fluvial to fluviolacustrine sedimentation episodes, separated by two erosive stages, followed one another. A bedrock thickness of 100–300 m was eroded from maar 2 during the upper Aquitanian and (or) the lower Burdigalian (∼22–19 Ma). This erosion is partly due to a volcano-tectonic uplift in the southern Limagne. The complex morphostructural evolution of the Gergovie plateau demonstrates the north–south geodynamic differentiation of the Limagne rift during the Lower Miocene, since the northern part of the basin corresponded to a relatively calm lacustrine sedimentation area. More generally, the Miocene volcanic field in the South of the Limagne gives an opportunity to study interactions between volcanism, tectonics, and erosion during the late passive rifting activity phase.