文摘
The 1257?A.D. caldera-forming eruption of Samalas (Lombok, Indonesia) was recently associated with the largest sulphate spike of the last 2?ky recorded in polar ice cores. It is suspected to have impacted climate both locally and at a global scale. Extensive fieldwork coupled with sedimentological, geochemical and physical analyses of eruptive products enabled us to provide new constraints on the stratigraphy and eruptive dynamics. This four-phase continuous eruption produced a total of 33-0?km3 dense rock equivalent (DRE) of deposits, consisting of (i) 7-?km3 DRE of pumiceous plinian fall products, (ii) 16?km3 DRE of pyroclastic density current deposits (PDC) and (iii) 8-?km3 DRE of co-PDC ash that settled over the surrounding islands and was identified as far as 660?km from the source on the flanks of Merapi volcano (Central Java). Widespread accretionary lapilli-rich deposits provide evidence of the occurrence of a violent phreatomagmatic phase during the eruption. With a peak mass eruption rate of 4.6?×-08?kg/s, a maximum plume height of 43?km and a dispersal index of 110,500?km2, the 1257?A.D. eruption stands as the most powerful eruption of the last millennium. Eruption dynamics are consistent with an efficient dispersal of sulphur-rich aerosols across the globe. Remarkable reproducibility of trace element analysis on a few milligrammes of pumiceous tephra provides unequivocal evidence for the geochemical correlation of 1257?A.D. proximal reference products with distal tephra identified on surrounding islands. Hence, we identify and characterise a new prominent inter-regional chronostratigraphic tephra marker.