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The Rocourt Tephra, a Widespread 90–74 ka stratigraphic marker in Belgium

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

André Pouclet ,
Etienne Juvigné  and
Stéphane Pirson
André Pouclet*
Affiliation:
1383 rue de la Source, 45160 Olivet, France
Etienne Juvigné
Affiliation:
University of Liège, Sart-Tilman, B-12A, 4000 Liège, Belgium
Stéphane Pirson
Affiliation:
Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences, 29 rue Vautier, B-1000 Bruxelles, Belgium
*
*Corresponding author. E-mail address:andre.pouclet@tele2.fr (A. Pouclet).
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Abstract

A new study of the stratigraphy and composition of the Rocourt Tephra is performed at five sites in Belgium and brackets the age of the tephra between 90.3 and 74 ka. The volcanic glass grains have a typical shape of phreatomagmatic eruption products. A large set of tephra minerals were analyzed, namely clinopyroxene, orthopyroxene, amphibole, and Cr-spinel. The compositions of these minerals have been compared with the lava xenocrysts, megacrysts, and phenocrysts of the proximate Eifel volcanic province for which the origin has been determined (mantle xenoliths, high-pressure cumulates, and middle- to low-pressure magmatic phases). This allowed us to determine the likely origin of the tephra minerals. The Rocourt Tephra source could be a West Eifel volcano that was fed by a deep-seated magma batch rich in high- to middle-pressure minerals.

Keywords

Widespread tephra layerRocourt TephraUpper PleistoceneWestern EuropeBelgium
Type
Original Articles
Information
Quaternary Research , Volume 70 , Issue 1 , July 2008 , pp. 105 - 120
Copyright
University of Washington

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