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Revisiting the Timing of the Northern Lobe of the White River Ash Volcanic Event in Eastern Alaska and Western Yukon

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 September 2019

Joshua Reuther ,
Ben Potter ,
Sam Coffman ,
Holly Smith  and
Nancy Bigelow
Joshua Reuther*
Affiliation:
University of Alaska Museum, Archaeology Department, Fairbanks, AK, USA University of Alaska Fairbanks, Department of Anthropology, Fairbanks, AK, USA
Ben Potter
Affiliation:
University of Alaska Fairbanks, Department of Anthropology, Fairbanks, AK, USA
Sam Coffman
Affiliation:
University of Alaska Museum, Archaeology Department, Fairbanks, AK, USA
Holly Smith
Affiliation:
University of Alaska Fairbanks, Department of Anthropology, Fairbanks, AK, USA Government of Yukon, Archaeology Program, Heritage Resources Unit, Cultural Services Branch, Department of Tourism & Culture, Whitehorse, Yukon, Canada
Nancy Bigelow
Affiliation:
University of Alaska Fairbanks, Alaska Quaternary Center, Fairbanks, AK, USA
*
*Corresponding author. Email:jreuther@alaska.edu
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Abstract

The northern lobe of the White River Ash (WRAn) is part of a bilobate distribution of tephras that originated from the Wrangell Volcanic Field near the border of Alaska, USA, and Yukon, Canada. It is distributed across northeastern Alaska and the northwestern portion of the Yukon. The timing of this eruption has seen little critical analysis relative to the younger and more extensive eastern lobe eruption of the White River Ash. We compiled 38 radiocarbon (14C) dates from above and below the WRAn, and employed several statistical approaches to identify and eliminate or down-weight outliers, combine dates, and different Bayesian models, to provide a revised age estimate for the timing of the WRAn tephra deposition. Our results indicate that the most accurate modeled age estimate for the northern lobe of the White River Ash deposition is between 1689 and 1560 cal BP, with a mean and median of 1625 and 1623 cal BP, respectively. This age range is 90 to 200 years younger than previous age estimates.

Keywords

Bayesian modelingEastern Alaskaradiocarbon datingWhite River AshYukon
Type
Research Article
Information
Radiocarbon , Volume 62 , Issue 1 , February 2020 , pp. 169 - 188
Copyright
© 2019 by the Arizona Board of Regents on behalf of the University of Arizona 

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