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Possible magmatic CO2 influence on the Laacher See eruption date

Nature volume 619, pages E1–E2 (2023)Cite this article

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Matters Arising to this article was published on 05 July 2023

The Original Article was published on 30 June 2021

arising from F. Reinig et al. Nature https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-021-03608-x (2021)

The Laacher See tephra (LST) is a key Late Pleistocene chronostratigraphic unit across Europe, and an accurate date for the deposit is crucial for understanding Late Glacial sedimentary sequences. Reinig et al.1 used radiocarbon measurements of subfossil trees trapped in the pyroclastic deposits of the Laacher See eruption (LSE) to date the eruption to 13,006 ± 9 calibrated years before present (years bp; taken as ad 1950); this age is around 130 years older than the previously accepted determinations of its age using varve-counting (12,880 ± 40 years bp)2 and 40Ar/39Ar (12,900 ± 560 years bp)3 analyses. However, Reinig et al.1 did not correct for the incorporation of radiocarbon-free magmatic carbon dioxide (CO2) into the growing trees, and here we suggest that their proposed date is around 130 years too old. The implications of incorporating a high-precision yet inaccurate LST age into the European chronostratigraphic framework are substantial, and include the misinterpretation of regional records, the misalignment of climate shifts and the exclusion of the LSE from consideration as a possible driver of abrupt climate change.

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Fig. 1: An example of magmatic CO2 effects on radiocarbon values of a tree growing near a volcanic centre.
Fig. 2: Sulfate levels in the NGRIP ice core1,11 compared with the previously published dates for the LSE.

Data availability

All datasets analysed during the current study are available from the references cited and from the corresponding author on reasonable request.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Earth Sciences, Durham University, Durham, UK

    James U. L. Baldini, Richard J. Brown, Fabian B. Wadsworth & Jack W. Campbell

  2. Department of Earth Sciences, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK

    Alice R. Paine

  3. Department of Earth Sciences, Royal Holloway University of London, Egham, UK

    Charlotte E. Green

  4. SYSTEMIQ, London, UK

    Natasha Mawdsley

  5. School of Health & Life Sciences, Teesside University, Middlesbrough, UK

    Lisa M. Baldini

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  1. James U. L. Baldini
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Contributions

The original premise for this Comment was developed by J.U.L.B., F.B.W. and A.R.P. All authors contributed to the text and figures, and to the development of the concepts presented in the Comment.

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Correspondence to James U. L. Baldini.

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Baldini, J.U.L., Brown, R.J., Wadsworth, F.B. et al. Possible magmatic CO2 influence on the Laacher See eruption date. Nature 619, E1–E2 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-023-05965-1

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