Explosive volcanic activity in the Mediterranean over the past 200,000 yr as recorded in deep-sea sediments

As many as 20 air-borne tephra layers have been identified in the upper Quaternary sequence of deep-sea cores from the eastern Mediterranean. Petrographical examination based on refractive index, phenocryst content, and chemical composition of the volcanic glass distinguishes the parent magma types: (1) tephritic, (2) alkalic-trachytic, (3) peralkalic-pantelleritic, and (4) calc-alkalic andesitic to rhyodacitic and alkali-basaltic. Tephra layers could be correlated with the following source volcanoes: Somma-Vesuvius, Roman district, Phlegraean Fields and Ischia, Pantelleria, Aeolian Islands, Mount Etna, and Aegean arc. The distribution for single layers has been traced over more than 2,000 km.