New Palaeolimnological Record From West Anatolia (paleo-Kuleonu Lake) Provides New Information on the Activity of the Golcuk Volcanism and the Distribution of the Santorini Minoan Eruption

Abstract

Anatolia, which had active volcanoes during the Pleistocene and Holocene periods, was also influenced by volcanic eruptions around the Eastern Mediterranean. Therefore, tephrochronology is an important research topic in palaeoenvironmental studies conducted in Anatolia. This study focuses on the geochemical characteristics, chronologies and source areas of six different tephra layers identified in a 16 m sediment core obtained from Paleo-Kuleonu Lake in the Lake District of West Anatolia. Whole-rock geochemistry is used to determine the geochemical characteristics and source of the tephra layers, micro X-ray fluorescence analysis is used to determine relative element changes throughout the cores, and C-14 analysis is performed to establish the chronologies. The geochemistry of the Paleo-Kuleonu Lake tephra layers is consistent with the Golcuk volcanism located in West Anatolia province and the Minoan eruption within the Aegean volcanic province. The layers that resemble the geochemistry of the Golcuk volcanism accumulated at similar to 33 218 cal a BP (PLK-19-1; 30 cm), similar to 32 267 cal a BP (PLK-19-2: 18 cm), similar to 31 597 cal a BP (PLK-19-3; 8 cm), similar to 31 300 cal a BP (PLK-19-4; 17 cm) and similar to 26547 cal a BP (PLK-19-5; 13 cm) and are associated with the last eruptive cycle (Cycle III) of the volcanism. The closest tephra layer to the surface in the sediment core, designated as PLK-19-6 (similar to 1.5 cm), shows geochemical similarities with the Santorini Minoan eruption. However, according to our data, the age of the tephra layer is similar to 4717 BP/similar to 5542 cal a BP, which is inconsistent with the widely accepted date for the Minoan eruption in the literature. The discrepancy between the geochemical match and chronological inconsistency is discussed in the context of the results presented in the paper. (c) 2025 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.