High-resolution stratigraphy and chronology of seven distal, Campanian-derived tephra layers interbedded with varved sediments aged 40-38 cal ka BP in Lago Grande di Monticchio: local impacts, re-mobilisation, and implications for palaeoenvironmental reco

Abstract We present the results of new tephrostratigraphical and environmental impact studies of the 40-38 ka varved sediment section of Lago Grande di Monticchio (southern Italy). The sediments in this time zone are correlated with the Heinrich H4-stadial that occurred between Greenland Interstadials GI-9 and GI-8, and include the widespread Campanian Ignimbrite (CI, 39.3 ka) as a thick tephra layer in the middle of the H4 stadial. The CI in the Monticchio record is overlain by the Schiava tephra from Vesuvius, c. 1240 varve-years younger than the CI, and preceded by four tephras from small-scale eruptions of the Phlegrean Fields and by an Ischia-derived tephra. The four Phlegrean Field-derived tephras were deposited 600 varveyears or fewer prior to the deposition of the CI and show very similar major, minor, and trace element glass compositions compared to those of the CI. This similarity in composition and age may lead to erroneous tephra identification and therefore potentially compromise the accurate linking and synchronisation of palaeoenvironmental records in the central Mediterranean area. Microfacies analyses and µ-XRF core scanning were used to characterise POST-PRINT Published in Quaternary Science Reviews