Discovery of a Large-Magnitude, Late Pleistocene Volcanic Eruption in Alaska

An extensive blanket of dacitic tephra was deposited across Alaska and the western Yukon Territory by a plinian eruption about 80,000 years ago. The volume of tephra erupted probably exceeded 50 cubic kilometers and the source was probably in the Wrangell Mountains. This widespread layer of tephra serves as an excellent late Pleistocene stratigraphic marker.