Description and geochemical composition of tephra layers from ODP Hole 186-1150A and Site 186-1151

The sediments collected at Sites 1150 and 1151 during Leg 186 included many tephra layers and volcaniclastic detritus. In order to identify these tephras, the major oxide compositions of individual glass shards were determined by electron probe microanalyzer. The uppermost four tephras in sediments from Hole 1150A are correlated with the Towada-Hachinohe tephra (To-H; Tohoku district), Shikotsu Daiichi (1st) tephra (Spfa-1; Hokkaido district), Narugo-Yanagisawa tephra (Nr-Y; Tohoku district), and Aso-4 tephra (Kyushu district), respectively. The uppermost tephra in Hole 1151C is correlated with To-H tephra. To-H, Spfa-1, and Aso-4 tephras are also present in piston core KH94-3, LM-8, collected between Sites 1150 and 1151. Eruptive ages of To-H and Spfa-1 estimated from the oxygen isotopic Stages of core KH94-3, LM-8 are between 14.9-15.3 and 39.5-40.1 ka.