B. Zolitschka et al., SEDIMENTOLOGICAL PROOF AND DATING OF THE EARLY HOLOCENE VOLCANIC-ERUPTION OF ULMENER MAAR (VULKANEIFEL, GERMANY), Geologische Rundschau, 84(1), 1995, pp. 213-219
A minerogeniclayer occurs in early postglacial organic sediments from
five maar lakes (West Eifel Volcanic Field, Germany). The mineralogy a
nd stratigraphic position of this tephra suggests that it is related t
o the youngest German volcano, Ulmener Maar, nearby. Radiocarbon datin
g of wood from the base of the Ulmener Maar Tephra at two locations pr
ovide ages in agreement with an accelerator mass spectrometer C-14 dat
e for the minerogenic layer from sediments of Lake Holzmaar situated 1
3 km south-west of Ulmener Maar. The mean radiocarbon age is 9560 year
s BP. Dating by varve chronology provides an age of 10017 years VT (va
rve time in years before 1950) or 10895 years corrected VT. Based on p
alynology the Ulmener Maar Tephra was deposited at the end of the Preb
oreal. High values of natural remnant magnetization intensity, typical
of pyroclastic material, confirm that this minerogenic layer differs
in composition from other elastic deposits of the sedimentary record.
Geochemical analyses reveal increased values of total trace elements f
or the Laacher See Tephra and Ulmener Maar Tephra. An isopach map base
d on thickness variations of the Ulmener Maar Tephra at five investiga
ted maar lakes indicates that the tephra was mainly transported to the
south west.