Dates of Holocene Icelandic volcanic eruptions from tephra layers in Irish peats

Tephra from historic and prehistoric eruptions of Oraefajøkull and Hekla, Iceland, have been found in Irish peats. Using a series of stratigraphically related high-precision radiocarbon measure ments, the date of a known-age eruption has been satisfactorily estimated. Based on the same techniques, the calendrical date of the Hekla 4 eruption has been estimated as 2310 ± 20 BC.