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Cambridge Tephra Lab

@camtephra.bsky.social

Updates from the Cambridge Tephra Lab, Dept Geography, University of Cambridge.

36 Posts298 Follower 114 Folgt

Cambridge Tephra Lab @camtephra.bsky.social · 2d ago

Find out how @jinheum.bsky.social, @chslane.bsky.social & colleagues carried out a forensic study of varve sediments from Lake Chala to constrain the season and climatic impact of the 74,000 yr Toba super-eruption 🌋🔬🌏 doi.org/10.1126/scia... [spoiler: it was within background climate variability]

A three panel figure:
1. Simple rectangualr map of Africa, Southern Asia, the Indian Ocean area and across to W Australia. The location of the Toba caldera in Sumatra is indicated, as well as the locations that ash has been found. These are mainly across the E Indian Ocean, peninsula India and a few dots for cryptographers discoveries in E and S Africa.
2. A photo of the surface of a sediment core, spanning 10-20 cm, revealing laminations in dark-light layers. The position of ash from the Toba eruption is indicated in the centre of the image.
3. A close up image taken under high powered microscopy of an ~500 um diameter view of the sediment core, centred on the Toba ash layer (particles appear irregularly shaped and white, arranged in a clear horizontal band). Algal remains are also seen, picking out seasonal layers.

Helen Innes @heleninnes.bsky.social · 3mo ago

🚨🌋❄️Delighted to share our paper identifying Newberry Pumice tephra in Greenland ice at 686 CE, and investigating other 7th Century eruptions associated with climate cooling is now available online in Quaternary Science Reviews. 🌋❄️🚨 doi.org/10.1016/j.qu...

Redirecting

doi.org

Christine S. Lane @chslane.bsky.social · 7mo ago

📣 Studying tephra in archaeology? Then submit an abstract to our #tephratastic session at the European Association for Archaeologists #EAAs in Athens this summer. 🌋🏛️ Session #203 “Advances in Tephrochronology for Archaeological Research”. 👉5th Feb deadline👈 More info: bit.ly/3LCcuyy

Session abstract:
Tephrochronology is one of the most effective tools for building precise and independent chronological frameworks that link archaeological, palaeoenvironmental, and geological archives. By relating tephra layers to eruptive events, it establishes isochrons – time-synchronous surfaces that enable stratigraphic sequences to be correlated across regions with exceptional precision. In recent years, the study of cryptotephra – fine-grained (<125 μm) volcanic glass shards preserved in sediments far from their source – has profoundly expanded the potential of this approach. The identification and geochemical fingerprinting of these invisible ash layers now allow long-distance correlations, extending the applicability of tephrochronology to regions and contexts once considered beyond its reach.
This session focuses on how the integration of tephra studies into archaeological research is transforming our ability to correlate, date, and interpret the complex relationships between human activity, archaeological cultures, landscape evolution, and volcanic events across space and time. By bringing together examples from different regions and periods—from prehistoric to historical contexts—the session will highlight the diversity of applications and the growing analytical precision that characterise this rapidly evolving field.
We welcome contributions demonstrating how both visible tephra and cryptotephra layers have been used to refine archaeological chronologies, synchronise cultural and environmental sequences, or strengthen the chronological control of multiproxy datasets. Methodological and case-study papers are equally encouraged, especially those integrating tephrochronology with geoarchaeological and palaeoenvironmental methods such as micromorphology, sedimentology, and palaeoecological analyses. Research from regions traditionally considered “tephra-poor”, where cryptotephra discoveries are revealing new temporal anchors, is particularly welcome.

Christine S. Lane @chslane.bsky.social · 7mo ago

#Tephratastic PhD alert!! Study the record of volcanism hidden in the sediments of Lake Ohrid with the brilliant @pgalbert.bsky.social…and even better, you’d live on the Welsh coastline 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿🌊☀️ Bad news: deadline is Monday 12th Jan!! 🧑‍💻 More info: bit.ly/4pu3FVu

A screenshot of the title of a PhD project:

“New insights into the timing and scale of past Mediterranean volcanism and climate change from Lake Ohrid (Macedonia/Albania)
Swansea University
Crocus DLA”

Cambridge Tephra Lab @camtephra.bsky.social · 7mo ago

This looks exciting - a new scanning method to detect tephra 👌🌋🧪🔬

Dr. Thomas Ronge@thomasronge.bsky.social · 8mo ago

🚨New Publication where we employed visible to shortwave infrared spectroscopy to identify tephra layers from the background marine sediment present in core sections collected in the Aegean Sea. #NSFFunded publications.iodp.org/proceedings/...

A mosaic of sediment and rock close-up photos from a site drilled in the Aegean Sea.

Commission on Tephrochronology @cot-iavcei.bsky.social · 8mo ago

Just going to repost this - EGU is looking pretty special this year, especially for the tephra fans out there! #geology #volcano #tephra #egu2026 @egu.eu @iavcei.bsky.social 🌋🧪⚒️

Commission on Tephrochronology@cot-iavcei.bsky.social · 9mo ago

🌋 Hello tephra & volcano fans 🌋 We have some announcements, including THREE tephra sessions at the #EGU2026 and TWO special issues! Check out our flyer below with all the details, and pass it on! @egu.eu @ingvterremoti.bsky.social @iavcei.bsky.social @tephraportal.bsky.social 🧪⚒️

Commission on Tephrochronology presents three sessions at the EGU, come and submit and abstract:
GMPV11.1 “Tephra processes and dispersal: from tephrochronology to hazard assessment applications in volcanology”
SSP2.7 “Tephrochronology Beyond Boundaries: Chronology, Correlation and Innovation in Earth System Studies”
ESSI3.6 "From Principles to Practice: Multidisciplinary Approaches to Data-Driven Tephra Research"

Details on the submission process can be found at https://www.egu26.eu/authors/how-to-submit.html

Cambridge Tephra Lab @camtephra.bsky.social · 8mo ago

What’s the collective noun for a cluster of geographers rarely seen out of the labs? Seasons Greetings from Cambridge everyone! 🎄✨🎄✨🎄✨🎄 @camunigeography.bsky.social

Paul Byrne @theplanetaryguy.com · 8mo ago

Stunning footage from earlier today, when the new Kilauea eruption covered the USGS Webcam 3, which is situated in the Halemaʻumaʻu crater near the southern rim of the much larger Kilauea caldera. This *isn't* what the people of Pompeii saw. But it's not very far off.

Cambridge Tephra Lab @camtephra.bsky.social · 8mo ago

Not all tephra travels by air…

JGR: Oceans@jgroceans.bsky.social · 8mo ago

Pumice rafts are floating mats of volcanic rock from the eruption of underwater or coastal volcanoes. Monteath et al., analyze the chemistry of pumice from the Falkland Islands and trace its origin from ∼20,000 km away in the South Sandwich Islands 🌊 agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1029/...

Crew of the HMS Protector inspecting a large pumice clast (∼40 cm in diameter) from the 1962 Protector Shoal raft

JGR: Oceans @jgroceans.bsky.social · 8mo ago

Dr. Erik Klemetti Gonzalez @eruptions.site · 9mo ago

Here is a hastily constructed animated gif from different NASA satellites showing the progression of the Hayli Gubbi eruption. Note the tall ash plume spreading NE (right) and a lower, light tan ash flow(?) moving NNW. #eruption #volcano

Christine S. Lane @chslane.bsky.social · 9mo ago

Two weeks until our 2/12 PhD funding deadline! If you’re interested in a cryptotephra research project and joining @camtephra.bsky.social there’s still time drop me an email to discuss your ideas. Dept funding info: www.geog.cam.ac.uk/postgraduate... NERC DLA: nercdtp.esc.cam.ac.uk/StaffDirecto...

A grey, unoccupied lab with sink, centrifuge and shelves

A hand holding a tally counter with 294 showing, next to the stage of a microscope. There is a slide on the microscope

A row of labelled centrifuge tubes, with white caps, in a test tube rack.

A few platy fragments of glass viewed under high powered optical microscopy.

Cambridge Tephra Lab @camtephra.bsky.social · 9mo ago

Cambridge Tephra Lab paper hot off the press: read how (2022-23 masters student) @elowilkinsonrowe.bsky.social used tephra layers in lakes to reconstruct Holocene explosive eruptions from the Main Ethiopian Rift. #tephratastic www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

Refining Late Holocene explosive eruption histories of the Main Ethiopian Rift with lake sediment tephra records

The Main Ethiopian Rift (MER) hosts a rapidly growing population exposed to eruption hazards from ∼60 active Holocene volcanoes. The geological record…

sciencedirect.com

Dr Alice Paine @alicerpaine.bsky.social · 9mo ago

~100,000 years of rainfall… 💦

Oxford Tephrochronology Group @oxfordtephra.bsky.social · 10mo ago

🚨New paper! Our latest study, led by Sophie Vineberg, integrates proximal & distal tephra records to reveal the timing and dispersal of large explosive eruptions at Aso volcano (Japan) 🌋 🔗 doi.org/10.1016/j.jvolgeores.2025.108436 #tephra #volcanology #Aso #Japan #LakeSuigetsu #tephrochronology

Cambridge Tephra Lab @camtephra.bsky.social · 10mo ago

Another reason to ♥️ volcanic ash

Scripps Institution of Oceanography @scrippsocean.bsky.social · 10mo ago

🌱🌋 A greenhouse experiment led by Scripps Oceanography & @unigreifswald.bsky.social has uncovered a powerful new way volcanoes give life to the Earth: volcanic ash can triple plant productivity by transforming the microbiome, reshaping entire soil ecosystems. Dig in: scripps.ucsd.edu/news/volcani...

Cambridge Tephra Lab @camtephra.bsky.social · 10mo ago

Wonderful tephra layer revealed in this peat core sample. Follow the thread to find out where from… 🌋✨

Akrotelm 🌾@akrotelm.bsky.social · 10mo ago

Das Unsichtbare sichtbar machen' #FotoVorschlag 👉 mit dem Torfbohrer kann man händisch in Moortiefen vordringen, die ansonsten unsichtbar sind. Hier Seesedimentablagerungen vom Grunde eines Moores, >10.000 Jahre alt.

Bild einer mooroberflöche, in die eine Art stab gesteckt wird und Bild des entnommenen Bohrkerns

Cambridge Geography @camunigeography.bsky.social · 10mo ago

🌍 Curious about Geography? Ready to explore what it’s like to study your favourite subject at @cam.ac.uk? Don't miss our virtual Geography Subject Masterclass on 16 October 2025!

A promotional banner for the Cambridge Geography Subject Masterclass. The left side features a solid teal background with dark text reading: 'Geography Subject Masterclass 16 October 2025 Book now!'. The right side shows a partial photograph of two young students standing outdoors on a university campus, smiling at each other, with autumnal red foliage and a stone building visible in the background.

Cambridge Geography @camunigeography.bsky.social · 10mo ago

Dept of Geography's Prof Christine Lane @chslane.bsky.social was at the Romanian Academy, Cluj, for the "Integrating ice core, marine & terrestrial environments" network meeting. The two-day event was a great success, with current and former @camtephra.bsky.social members presenting their research.

Cambridge Tephra Lab @camtephra.bsky.social · 10mo ago

Last week PhD student @yqnatdeng.bsky.social and @chslane.bsky.social were sampling cores from an Ethiopian lake…in Aberystwyth! Here’s hoping there’s lots of ancient cryptotephra to be found! #tephratastic

A women stands by a wooden lab desk with a spatula held over a drainpipe filled with sediment.

Close up of a sediment core with a small channel of samples removed (plus a couple of bigger gaps from previous sampling). A labelled drainpipe lies alongside, plus a centrifuge tube rack with labels filled tubes in it.

Danielle McLean @danmclean.bsky.social · 11mo ago

🌋📢 Calling all #tephra researchers! Join us in shaping this new JQS Special Issue. "Beyond the #Eruption – Advances and Applications in Distal Tephra Analysis Across the Geosciences" Deadline: 2 Jan 2026. Further details below: onlinelibrary.wiley.com/page/journal...

Journal of Quaternary Science Call for Papers Beyond the Eruption: Advances and applications in distal tephra analysis across the Geosciences

<em>Journal of Quaternary Science</em> publishes papers on any field of Quaternary research, advancing understanding of earth's history over the last 2.58 million years.

onlinelibrary.wiley.com

Christine S. Lane @chslane.bsky.social · 11mo ago

We’ve had two days of science in beautiful Cluj as the “Integrating ice core, marine & terrestrial environments” network met for an open meeting. Photos of past/present @camtephra.bsky.social members presenting their work and the birthday flowers they embarrassed me with. @jinheum.bsky.social

Cambridge Tephra Lab @camtephra.bsky.social · 12mo ago

LST floating in LST. Small pleasures 🤓🌋 (Laacher See Tephra floating in the heavy liquid, lithium metatungstate)

A close up of a purple gloved hand in a lab, holding a transparent centrifuge tube, hand-labelled CT5015. The tube is approx 1/3 full with a clear liquid, floating at the top of which is a brownish cloud of fine particles. There is a dark residue at the very base of the tube, barely seen.

Alaska Public Media @alaskapublic.org · 12mo ago

Volcanic ash originating from Russia’s Kamchatka Peninsula canceled Alaska Airlines flights to Nome and Kotzebue Tuesday morning. The ash plume came from the Klyuchevskoy volcano, prompting an advisory from the Alaska Volcanic Ash Advisory Center.

Alaska Air flights to Nome and Kotzebue canceled due to volcanic ash from Kamchatka

Klyuchevskoy erupted shortly after a magnitude 8.8 earthquake two weeks ago.

alaskapublic.org

PARK Jinheum @jinheum.bsky.social · last yr.

We report a cryptotephra deposit from a ~120 ka Tondano eruption in a sediment core from Lake Towuti (Indonesia)! doi.org/10.1002/jqs....

Cryptotephra from a ~120 ka Tondano eruption in a sediment core from Lake Towuti (Indonesia)

Southeast Asia is one of the most volcanically active regions in the world, yet their long-term eruptive history has been comparatively little studied. In particular, little work has explored the pot....

doi.org

Ben Black @magmatist.bsky.social · last yr.

Some nice fresh looking tephra from Laki. Imagine these fragments quenching in fire fountains a kilometer high

Kenny Befus /“\@kennethbefus.bsky.social · last yr.

Iridescent Strombolian fall, reticulite, and the crew.

Jess Phoenix 🌋@volcanojess.com · last yr.

🌋 Lewotobi Laki-laki volcano is at it again. Biggest hazards are lahars and volcanic ash (the latter being particularly bad for air traffic). Stay safe, Indonesians! www.bbc.com/news/article...

Indonesian volcano Mount Lewotobi Laki-laki spews massive ash cloud as it erupts again

Following a series of eruptions three weeks ago, Mount Lewotobi Laki-laki has begun spewing hot ash and lava again.

bbc.com

Cambridge Tephra Lab @camtephra.bsky.social · last yr.

Cambridge tephrochronologists discover Holocene wall art from the “other place”… 👀 Come visit anytime @oxfordtephra.bsky.social

A photo of a whiteboard with doodles on it. In red marker is a crude sketch of an erupting volcano depositing ash in the sediments beneath a lake. Some strange dancing figures appear (are they volcanic bombs with legs?!) in the distal zone. Above the volcano someone has drawn a face with long hair and glasses (that could be a few of us in the lab past/present) and written “Oxford Tephra says Hi!!” In upper case. There is also an irregular spiky tephra shard outline. You can make out the feint reflection of the photographer and an academic poster on the wall opposite.

DeniseG @denisegutzmer.bsky.social · last yr.

Megadrought Reveals Volcanic Ash at Lake Mead Volcanic ash from volcanoes in Wyoming, Idaho, and California was deposited in the rocks along the shore. The ash samples ranged from 6 million to 12 million years old. #drought #LakeMead 🧪 www.discovermagazine.com/planet-earth...

Megadrought Reveals Volcanic Ash at Lake Mead, Giving Us a Better Look at the Lake's Past

Learn more about the volcanic ash researchers found in the sediment around Lake Mead’s now exposed shoreline, and how it could help us in the future.

discovermagazine.com

Cambridge Tephra Lab @camtephra.bsky.social · last yr.

Thanks to Alex Mattin [ www.wgtn.ac.nz/antarctic/ab... ] for visiting yesterday and giving a fascinating talk about his search for tephra from the ~25 kyr Ōruanui eruption in Antarctic ice cores!

Alexander Mattin | Te Puna Pātiotio / Antarctic Research Centre | Te Herenga Waka—Victoria University of Wellington

wgtn.ac.nz