A 9000-Year-old Ash Bed on the Faroe Islands

Abstract

Radiocarbon datings of the Saksunarvatn ash bed on the Faroe Islands indicate an age of 9000–9100 yr B.P. The Saksunarvatn ash bed differs geochemically from both ash zone 1 in the North Atlantic and the Vedde Ash Bed of Norway and the Norwegian Sea. All mentioned ashes are assumed to originate from Iceland. The Vedde Ash has been dated at 10,600 ± 60 yr B.P. Consequently, the Saksunarvatn and Vedde ash beds provide an opportunity for precise dating of events around the Pleistocene/Holocene boundary in marine cores, especially from the region where the two plumes overlap.