Paleomagnetic evidence for episodic construction of the Mamiyadake tephra ring

Abstract Tephra rings that surround maar craters are typically inferred from field observations to be emplaced rapidly over a time period of days to years and thus monogenetic, which is, however, rarely assessed quantitatively. This paper reports the discovery of polygenetic origin of the Mamiyadake tephra ring (Japan), comparing the paleomagnetic directions obtained from throughout the stratigraphy. The new data show that the paleomagnetic directions change systematically with height through the sections, which is interpreted to record paleosecular variation (PSV) of the geomagnetic field during formation of the tephra ring. The paleomagnetic results, together with using an average rate of PSV in Japan, indicate that the Mamiyadake tephra ring was constructed episodically with five major eruptive episodes, separated by centuries or longer, over at least 1000 years. The findings demonstrate that detailed paleomagnetic characterization can uncover the temporal evolution of tephra rings, providing a useful criterion for identifying time breaks, even where field evidence is lacking, and a minimum estimate of the time interval for their emplacement. The approach used here may be applicable to volcanoes of any type.