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SUMMARY:Chronicling Ethiopia’s explosive volcanic past using lake sedime
 nts - Dr Catherine Martin-Jones\, Department of Geography\, University of 
 Cambridge
DTSTART:20171026T120000Z
DTEND:20171026T130000Z
UID:TALK86881@talks.cam.ac.uk
CONTACT:Amy McGuire
DESCRIPTION:The volcanoes of the Ethiopian Rift Valley are some of the lea
 st studied on Earth. Of the sixty-five currently active volcanoes in the r
 egion\, forty-nine have no recorded historical eruptions. Accessing these 
 volcanoes can prove a logistical challenge\, and poor exposure at the volc
 ano may hinder investigation of past eruption frequency and magnitude. To 
 address this shortfall\, we study sediment cores from seven Ethiopian lake
 s and construct the region’s first Holocene record of volcanism. \n\nVol
 canic ash (tephra) preserved in these stratigraphically-resolved lake sequ
 ences catalogue explosive eruptions through time. A tephra layer can be tr
 aced to its volcanic source and identified at different lake sites based o
 n its geochemistry\, allowing the tephra dispersal to be mapped. Lake sedi
 ments are also well-suited to radiocarbon dating\, and these dates used to
  build Bayesian age models and understand the timing of past eruptions. \n
 \nOur first eruption record reveals that Ethiopian volcanoes have erupted 
 frequently and explosively throughout the Holocene\, and therefore present
  a real\, previously underestimated risk\, to the rapidly developing popul
 ation. Lake sediment tephra records show significant potential for reconst
 ructing past volcanism throughout East Africa\, work essential to clarifyi
 ng and reducing today’s volcanic hazards.
LOCATION:Rm 101\, William Hardy Building\, Department of Geography\, Downi
 ng Site
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