[Abstract]

The stratigraphy and chronology of late-Pleistocene (after deposition of AT ash) tephra layers erupted from post-caldera central cones of Aso Volcano, SW Japan, are evaluated through study of the thick tephra sequence preserved mainly atop the pyroclastic-flow plateau east of the caldera. Twenty andesite to basaltic-andesite scoria-fall deposits (YmS20-YmS1 in ascending order) and two pumice-fall deposits (NbP2 and NbP1) were identified as maker beds for the interval ca. 29-13 ka (calibrated 14C age). The tephra layers were produced mostly by scoria and ash eruptions of Nakadake, the only active post-caldera central cone, and their bulk volumes calculated from isopach maps range from 0.01 to 0.9 km3. The radiocarbon ages of buried soils just below individual tephra layers reveal that YmS20 to YmS15 were erupted at ca. 22-21 ka and YmS10 to YmS1 at ca. 18-16 ka. Total tephra volume during 29-13 ka is estimated at about 1.3 km3 (DRE). Production of tephra was mainly concentrated in two periods: 22-21 ka (0.8 km3) and 18-16 ka (0.5 km3).

Key words:

Aso Volcano, post-caldera central cones, scoria-fall deposit, tephrostratigraphy, eruptive history

e-mail:

yasuo@affrc.go.j