The Minoan Santorini Eruption and Tsunami Deposits in Palaikastro (Crete): Dating by Geology, Archaeology, 14C, and Egyptian Chronology

Deposits from the Minoan Santorini (Thera) eruption in the eastern Mediterranean region constitute the most important regional stratigraphic marker in the chronological perplexity of the 2nd millennium BCE. Extensive tsunami deposits were discovered in Crete at the Minoan archaeological site of Palaikastro, containing reworked volcanic Santorini ash. Hence, airborne deposition of volcanic ash, probably during the 1st (Plinian) eruption phase, preceded the tsunami, which was apparently generated during the 3rd or 4th phase of the eruption, based on evidence from Thera. Average radiocarbon dates (uncalibrated) of animal bones in the Palaikastro tsunami deposits along the coast (3350 ± 25 BP) and at the inland archaeological site (3352 ± 23 BP) are astoundingly similar to the average 14C date for the Minoan Santorini eruption at Akrotiri on Thera (3350 ± 10 BP). The wiggle-matched 14C date of the eruption in calendar years is 1627–1600 cal BCE. Late Minoan IA pottery is the youngest element in the Palaikastro tsunami deposits, fitting with the LM IA archaeological date for the Santorini eruption, conventionally linked at ~1500 BCE with Dynasty XVIII of the historical Egyptian chronology. The reasons for the discrepancy of 100–150 yr between 14C dating and Egyptian chronology for part of the 2nd millennium BCE are unknown. 14C dates from Tell el-Dabca in the eastern Nile Delta show that the 14C age of the Santorini eruption matches with 14C results from 18th Dynasty strata C3 and C2, thereby confirming grosso modo the conventional archaeo-historical correlations between the Aegean and Egypt. We propose that a dual dating system is used in parallel: (1) archaeological material-cultural correlations linked to Egyptian chronology; (2) 14C dating. Mixing of dates from the 2 systems may lead to erroneous archaeological and historical correlations. A “calibration curve” should be established between Egyptian chronology and 14C dating for the 2nd millennium BCE, which may also assist to resolve the cause of the discrepancy.

Charcoal production, dispersal, and deposition from the Fort Providence experimental fire: interpreting fire regimes from charcoal records in boreal forests

The relationship between charcoal production from fires and charcoal deposition in lakes is poorly understood, which limits the interpretation of sediment charcoal records. This calibration study assessed charcoal particle production, size, and transport during the International Crown Fire Modelling Experiment (ICFME) and compared fossil charcoal particle accumulation from 16 lakes in boreal forests of North America. Particle accumulation averaged 20.1 mm2·cm–2 inside the ICFME fire; accumulation declined sharply outside the fire, with only 1% of the measured particles transported beyond 20 m from the burn edge. Fossil charcoal accumulation during the past 9000 years was much lower than observed deposition in traps located within the ICFME fire but similar to airborne deposition in traps located 10–60 m from the burn edge. A higher fraction of large diameter particles (>1 mm) was present in fossil charcoal accumulation from historical fires and charcoal peaks that exceeded background accumulation by 1.4 times, suggesting large particles are characteristic of nearby fires. On the basis of a charred-particle production of ~2% of the total fuel consumed by the ICFME fire, we estimate a potential long-term carbon sequestration of 58.2 ± 12 g C·m–2 as charred particles from this fire stored in soils or lake sediments.

Uptake of heavy metals by plants from airborne deposition and polluted soils

The concentrations of sulphur, zinc, copper, lead and cadmium in spring wheat grain and straw, Italian rye grass, timothy and lettuce were studied in a three-year field experiment conducted in southern Finland near a copper-nickel smelter and at nonpolluted control sites. A pot experiment with copper- and nickel-contaminated soils and with a nonpolluted soil as the control was conducted to determine the copper and nickel concentrations in soils phytotoxic for plants. Forty, 200 or 1000 mg of copper or nickel as cloride was added to 2 litres of soil. The nickel and copper concentrations in the shoots of oats were measured. The zinc, copper, lead, cadmium and nickel concentrations varied between different plant species and also between experimental years. Near the smelter, the uptake of nickel by different plant species was very effective, as was copper uptake by lettuce, timothy and Italian rye grass. The same applied to the zinc and cadmium uptake of plants grown on plots. Nickel, cadmium and copper were easily accumulated by plants from air deposition. In the pot experiment, high nickel concentrations in soil were more phytotoxic for oats than were high copper concentrations. In acidic soil, nickel and copper concentrations lower than 20 and 100 mg/kg of soil, respectively, decreased the dry matter yield of oats shoots. Liming clearly decreased copper and nickel phytotoxity. In the most highly contaminated soil, the addition of Cu 20 mg/kg of soil decreased the yield of oats shoots.