Tm. Williams et al., RECENT ERUPTIVE EPISODES OF THE RUNGWE VOLCANIC FIELD (TANZANIA) RECORDED IN LACUSTRINE SEDIMENTS OF THE NORTHERN MALAWI RIFT, Journal of African earth sciences, and the Middle East, 17(1), 1993, pp. 33-39
Discrete ash horizons in Holocene sediments from northern Lake Malawi
provide evidence of six eruptive episodes within the nearby Rungwe Vol
canic Field between c.9000-360 BP. Rare earth element (REE) analyses s
how the ash layers to be strongly enriched in La, Ce, Pr, Nd, Sm, Th,
Dy, Er, Tm, Yb and Lu, with low Eu/Eu and high La(N)/Sm(N) values, re
lative to the surrounding muds. Mixing calculations suggest possible a
ffinities between the Rungwe ash emissions and silicic volcanics from
other important Quaternary centres (e.g. Naivasha) with respect to HRE
E geochemistry. The LREE spectra are less comparable and may indicate
a less fractionated ash assemblage for Rungwe Field. In the absence of
clear in situ evidence regarding the timing and frequency of Holocene
eruptions at Rungwe, the Lake Malawi sediments may prove a valuable r
econstructive tool. However, the direction and extent of ash dispersal
is strongly controlled by wind/climatic factors and the retention of
a complete record at any single location is unlikely.