New radiocarbon age constraints on the eruption history of the Quill volcano, St. Eustatius, Dutch Caribbean
Keywords:
Quill volcano, St. Eustatius, radiocarbon dates, pyroclastic deposits, eruption frequency, volcanic hazard
Abstract
The late Pleistocene to Holocene subaerial pyroclastic deposits of the Quill stratovolcano on the Caribbean island of St Eustatius form seven stratigraphic divisions. New radiocarbon ages of charcoal are presented for the second, third and seventh divisions in order to better constrain the Quill’s eruption history. Three samples from the same layer of Division 2 at two localities on the northeast coast yield ages of 18,020 ± 40 (1σ), 18,310 ± 45 and 18,490 ± 45 14C yr BP (∼19,800–20,600 yr cal BC). These are considerably younger (∼4400 yr) than a previously published result for this division. A single sample of Division 3 gave an age of 8090 14C yr BP (∼7100 yr cal BC) and overlaps with previously published 14C ages for this division. A charred root in the pyroclastic unit deposited by the last eruption of the Quill (Division 7) gave an age of 919 14C yr BP (∼1100–1200 yr cal AD). This result is ∼600 years younger than a previously published age, and its origin is attributed to human activity. The timing of the last eruption of the Quill therefore remains poorly constrained but is older than 600 AD. Terrestrial gastropods found in paleosols and organic material found in small streams that developed in Division 3 indicate that Division 4 must be younger than 6100 ± 500 yr cal BC. The oxygen and carbon isotope composition of the terrestrial gastropods derived from Division 3 paleosols indicates that the C4 and CAM-type vegetation was dominant and that the climate subsequently changed to wetter conditions. The minimum eruption frequency for the Quill volcano is one eruption every ∼1400 years during the past 22,000 years. This eruption frequency of the Quill volcano is of the same order of magnitude as other recent northern Lesser Antilles volcanoes, Soufrière Hills (Montserrat, ∼5000 years) and Mt Liamuiga (St. Kitts, ∼2500 years).
References
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Pigati, J. S., Quade, J., Shanahan, T.M. & Haynes, C.V., 2004. Radiocarbon dating of minute gastropods and new constraints on the timing of spring-discharge deposits in southern Arizona, USA. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 204: 33–45.
Pigati, J.S., Rech, J.A. & Nekola, J.C., 2010. Radiocarbon dating of small terrestrial gastropod shells in North America. Quaternary Geochronology 5: 519–532.
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Rohling, E.J., Medina-Elizalde, M., Shepherd, J.G., Siddall, M. & Stanford, J.D., 2012. Sea surface and high-latitude temperature sensitivity to radiative forcing of climate over several glacial cycles. Journal of Climate 25: 1635–1656.
Roobol, M.J., Smith, A.L. & Wright, J.V., 1981. Revisions in the pyroclastic stratigraphy of Mount Misery volcano, St. Kitts, Lesser Antilles: 14C ages and recognition of pyroclastic flow deposits. Journal of The Geological Society 138: 713–718.
Roobol, M.J. & Smith, A.L., 1998. Pyroclastic stratigraphy of the Soufriere Hills Montserrat - implications for the present eruption. Geophysical Research Letters 25: 3393–3396.
Roobol, M.J. & Smith, A.L., 2004. Volcanology of Saba and St. Eustatius, Northern Lesser Antilles. KNAW – Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences (Amsterdam, Netherlands): 340 pp.
Smith, A.L. & Roobol, M.J., 1990. Mt. Pelée, Martinique; a study of an Active Island-arc volcano. Geological Society of America Memoir 175: 105. DOI: 10.1130/MEM175.
Smith, A.L., Schellekens, J.H., Roobol, M.J. & Joyce, J., 1998. The stratigraphy and age of the White Wall-Sugar Loaf sequence, St. Eustatius. In: Transactions 14th Caribbean Geological Conference (Trinidad, 1995), 2–12.
Stott, L.D., 2002. The infuence of diet on the δ13C of shell carbon in the pulmonated snail Helix aspera. Earth and Planetary Science Letters 195(3-4): 249–259.
Van Benthem, S., Govers, R., Spakman, W. & Wortel, M.J.R., 2013. Tectonic evolution and mantle structure of the Caribbean. Journal of Geophysical Research, Solid Earth 118(6): 3019–3036. DOI: 10.1002/jgrb.50235.
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Veenenbos, J.S., 1955. A soil and land capability survey of St. Maarten, St. Eustatius, and Saba, Netherlands Antilles. Publications of the Foundation for Scientific Research in Surinam and the Netherlands Antilles 11: 94 pp.
Verstappen-Dumoulin, B.M.A.A., Wietzes-Land, P. & Meijer, H.A.J., 2020. Radiocarbon dating at Groningen: new and updated chemical pretreatment procedures. Radiocarbon 62(1): 63–74. DOI: 10.1017/RDC.2019.101.
Versteeg, A.H., 1992. The Golden Rock features. In: Versteeg, A.H. & Schinkel, K. (eds): The Archeology of St. Eustatius: The Golden Rock Site. St. Eustatius Historical Foundation (St. Eustatius), publication no. 2 / Publications of the Foundation for Scientific Research in the Caribbean Region,. vol. 131, pp. 14–28.
Versteeg, A.H. & Schinkel, K. (eds.), 1992. The Archaeology of St. Eustatius: The Golden Rock site. St. Eustatius Historical Foundation (St. Eustatius), publication no. 2 / Publications of the Foundation for Scientific Research in the Caribbean Region, vol. 131, 249 pp.
Westermann, J.H. & Kiel, H., 1961. The geology of Saba and St. Eustatius, with notes on the geology of St. Kitts, Nevis, and Montserrat (Lesser Antilles). Publications of the Foundation for Scientific Research in Surinam and the Netherlands Antilles 24: 175 pp.
Baker, P.E., 1969. The geological history of Mt. Misery volcano, St. Kitts, West Indies. Overseas Geology and Mining Research 10: 207–230.
Baker, P.E., 1985. Volcanic hazards on St. Kitts and Montserrat, West Indies. Journal of The Geological Society 142: 279–295.
Beets, C. J., Troelstra, S., Grootes, P., Nadeau, M-J., van der Borg, K., Jong, A.F.M., Hofman, C., Hoogland, M., 2006. Climate and pre-Columbian settlement at Anse à la Gourde, Guadeloupe, Northeastern Caribbean. Geoarchaeology-an International Journal 21: 271–280. DOI: 10.1002/gea.20096.
Bouysse, P., Westercamp, D. & Andreieff, P., 1990. The Lesser Antilles island arc. Proceedings of the Ocean Drilling Program, Scientific Results 110: 29–44.
Bronk Ramsey, C., 2009. Bayesian analysis of radiocarbon dates. Radiocarbon 51(1): 337–360. DOI: 10.1017/S0033822200033865.
Davidson, J.P. 1984. Petrogenesis of Lesser Antilles island arc magmas: Isotope and geochemical constraints. PhD thesis, University of Leeds: 258 pp.
Dee, M.W., Palstra, S.W.L., Aerts-Bijma, A.T., Bleeker, M.O., de Bruijn, S., Ghebru, F., Jansen, H.G., Kuitems, M., Paul, D., Richie, R.R., Spriensma, J.J., Scifo, A., Van Zonneveld, D., Verstappen-Dumoulin, B.M.A.A., Wietzes-Land, P. & Meijer, H.A.J., 2020. Radiocarbon dating at Groningen: new and updated chemical pretreatment procedures. Radiocarbon 62(1): 63–74. DOI: 10.1017/RDC.2019.101.
Defant, M.J., Sherman, S., Maury, R.C., Bellon, H., de Boer, J., Davidson, J. & Kepezhinskas, P., 2001. The geology, petrology, and petrogenesis of Saba Island, Lesser Antilles. Journal of Volcanology and Geothermal Research 107: 87–111.
Deines, P., 1980. The isotopic composition of reduced organic carbon. In: Fritz, P. & Fontes, J.C. (eds): Handbook of environmental geochemistry. vol. 1, Elsevier (New York): 329–406.
Goodfriend, G.A. & Hood, D.G., 1983. Carbon isotope analysis of land snail shells: implications for carbon sources and radiocarbon dating. Radiocarbon 25: 810–830.
Harford, C.L., Pringle, M.S., Sparks, R.S.J. & Young, S.R., 2002. The volcanic evolution of Montserrat using 40Ar/39Ar geochronology. Geological Society, London, Memoirs 21: 93–11.
Harkness, D.D., Roobol, M.J., Smith, A.L., Stipp, J.J. & Baker, P.E., 1994. Radiocarbon redating of contaminated samples from a tropical volcano - the Mansion Series of St. Kitts, West Indies. Bulletin of Volcanology 56: 326–334.
Heaton, T.J., Bard, E., Bronk Ramsey, C., Butzin, M., Köhler, P., Muscheler, R., Reimer, P.J. & Wacker, L., 2021. Radiocarbon: a key tracer for studying Earth’s dynamo, climate system, carbon cycle, and Sun. Science 374(6568): eabd7096.
Hodell, D.A., Curtis, J.H., Jonest, G.A., Higuera-Gundy, A., Brenner, M., Binfordll, M.W. & Dorsey, K.T., 1991. Reconstruction of Caribbean climate change over the past 10,500 years. Nature 352(6338): 790–793.
Kohn, M.J., 2010. Carbon isotope compositions of terrestrial C3 plants as indicators of (paleo)ecology and (paleo)climate. Proceedings of The National Academy of Sciences of The United States of America 107(46): 19691–19695.
Lindsay, J.M. & Robertson, R.E.A., 2018. Integrating volcanic hazard data in a systematic approach to develop volcanic hazard maps in the Lesser Antilles. Frontiers in Earth Science 6: 42. DOI: 10.3389/feart.2018.00042.
Macdonald, R., Hawkesworth, C.J. & Heath, E., 2000. The Lesser Antilles volcanic chain: a study in arc magmatism. Earth-Science Reviews 49: 1–76.
Molengraaff, G.A.F. 1886. De geologie van het eiland St. Eustatius – Eene bijdrage tot de kennis der Nederlandsche Koloniën. PhD thesis Utrecht University. E.J. Brill (Leiden, Netherlands): 64 pp.
Napolitano, M.F., DiNapoli, R.J., Stone, J.H., Levin, M.J., Jew, N.P., Lane, B.G., O’Connor, J.T. & Fitzpatrick, S.M., 2019. Reevaluating human colonization of the Caribbean using chronometric hygiene and Bayesian modeling. Science Advances 5(12): eaar7806. DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.aar7806.
Pigati, J.S., 2002. On correcting 14C ages of gastropod shell carbonate for fractionation. Radiocarbon 44: 755–760.
Pigati, J. S., Quade, J., Shanahan, T.M. & Haynes, C.V., 2004. Radiocarbon dating of minute gastropods and new constraints on the timing of spring-discharge deposits in southern Arizona, USA. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 204: 33–45.
Pigati, J.S., Rech, J.A. & Nekola, J.C., 2010. Radiocarbon dating of small terrestrial gastropod shells in North America. Quaternary Geochronology 5: 519–532.
Reimer, P.J., Austin, W.E.N., Bard, E., Bayliss, A., Blackwell, P.G., Bronk Ramsey, C., Butzin, M., Cheng, H., Edwards, R.L., Friedrich, M., Grootes, P.M., Guilderson, T.P., Hajdas, I., Heaton, T.J., Hogg, A.G., Hughen, K.A., Kromer, B., Manning, S.W., Muscheler, R., Palmer, J.G., Pearson, C., Van der Plicht, J., Reimer, R.W., Richards, D.A., Scott, E.M., Southon, J.R., Turney, C.S.M., Wacker, L., Adolphi, F., Büntgen, U., Capano, M., Fahrni, S.M., Fogtmann-Schulz, A., Friedrich, R., Köhler, P., Kudsk, S., Miyake, F., Olsen, J., Reinig, F., Sakamoto, M., Sookdeo, A. & Talamo, S., 2020. The IntCal20 northern hemisphere radiocarbon age calibration curve (0-55 cal kBP). Radiocarbon 62(4): 725–757. DOI: 10.1017/RDC.2020.41.
Rohling, E.J., Medina-Elizalde, M., Shepherd, J.G., Siddall, M. & Stanford, J.D., 2012. Sea surface and high-latitude temperature sensitivity to radiative forcing of climate over several glacial cycles. Journal of Climate 25: 1635–1656.
Roobol, M.J., Smith, A.L. & Wright, J.V., 1981. Revisions in the pyroclastic stratigraphy of Mount Misery volcano, St. Kitts, Lesser Antilles: 14C ages and recognition of pyroclastic flow deposits. Journal of The Geological Society 138: 713–718.
Roobol, M.J. & Smith, A.L., 1998. Pyroclastic stratigraphy of the Soufriere Hills Montserrat - implications for the present eruption. Geophysical Research Letters 25: 3393–3396.
Roobol, M.J. & Smith, A.L., 2004. Volcanology of Saba and St. Eustatius, Northern Lesser Antilles. KNAW – Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences (Amsterdam, Netherlands): 340 pp.
Smith, A.L. & Roobol, M.J., 1990. Mt. Pelée, Martinique; a study of an Active Island-arc volcano. Geological Society of America Memoir 175: 105. DOI: 10.1130/MEM175.
Smith, A.L., Schellekens, J.H., Roobol, M.J. & Joyce, J., 1998. The stratigraphy and age of the White Wall-Sugar Loaf sequence, St. Eustatius. In: Transactions 14th Caribbean Geological Conference (Trinidad, 1995), 2–12.
Stott, L.D., 2002. The infuence of diet on the δ13C of shell carbon in the pulmonated snail Helix aspera. Earth and Planetary Science Letters 195(3-4): 249–259.
Van Benthem, S., Govers, R., Spakman, W. & Wortel, M.J.R., 2013. Tectonic evolution and mantle structure of the Caribbean. Journal of Geophysical Research, Solid Earth 118(6): 3019–3036. DOI: 10.1002/jgrb.50235.
Van der Valk, B., 1992. The physical environment of Golden Rock. In: Versteeg, A.H. & Schinkel, K. (eds): The Archeology of St. Eustatius: The Golden Rock Site. St. Eustatius Historical Foundation (St. Eustatius), publication no. 2 / Publications of the Foundation for Scientific Research in the Caribbean Region, vol. 131, pp. 14–28.
Veenenbos, J.S., 1955. A soil and land capability survey of St. Maarten, St. Eustatius, and Saba, Netherlands Antilles. Publications of the Foundation for Scientific Research in Surinam and the Netherlands Antilles 11: 94 pp.
Verstappen-Dumoulin, B.M.A.A., Wietzes-Land, P. & Meijer, H.A.J., 2020. Radiocarbon dating at Groningen: new and updated chemical pretreatment procedures. Radiocarbon 62(1): 63–74. DOI: 10.1017/RDC.2019.101.
Versteeg, A.H., 1992. The Golden Rock features. In: Versteeg, A.H. & Schinkel, K. (eds): The Archeology of St. Eustatius: The Golden Rock Site. St. Eustatius Historical Foundation (St. Eustatius), publication no. 2 / Publications of the Foundation for Scientific Research in the Caribbean Region,. vol. 131, pp. 14–28.
Versteeg, A.H. & Schinkel, K. (eds.), 1992. The Archaeology of St. Eustatius: The Golden Rock site. St. Eustatius Historical Foundation (St. Eustatius), publication no. 2 / Publications of the Foundation for Scientific Research in the Caribbean Region, vol. 131, 249 pp.
Westermann, J.H. & Kiel, H., 1961. The geology of Saba and St. Eustatius, with notes on the geology of St. Kitts, Nevis, and Montserrat (Lesser Antilles). Publications of the Foundation for Scientific Research in Surinam and the Netherlands Antilles 24: 175 pp.
Published
2024-02-28
How to Cite
Vroon , P. Z., van Zadelhoff , H. M., van der Valk , B., van der Meulen , M. J., & Davies , G. R. (2024). New radiocarbon age constraints on the eruption history of the Quill volcano, St. Eustatius, Dutch Caribbean. Netherlands Journal of Geosciences, 103. https://doi.org/10.1017/njg.2023.14
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