THE EARLY HOLOCENE SAKSUNARVATN TEPHRA FOUND IN LAKE-SEDIMENTS IN NW GERMANY

A basaltic tephra layer consisting of brownish-olive glass shards, and about 0.2 mm thick. was found in cores from four lakes in northwest G ermany. According to pollen analysis it was deposited during the early Boreal period (corresponding to about 8700 BP). The petrographic prop erties, the geochemical composition and the age agree with those of th e Saksunarvatn tephra, which was first found on the Faroe Islands. The position of the tephra layer in the pollen stratigraphy and in the ab solute time-scale is discussed. Procedures for locating the tephra in other cores are suggested.