Karapiti Tephra Formation: a 10 000 years B.P. rhyolitic tephra from Taupo

Abstract

Karapiti Tephra is a widespread Holocene rhyolitic tephra found throughout the central Taupo Volcanic Zone, North Island, New Zealand. A new radiocarbon date (NZ4847 A) on charcoal from within the tephra establishes an optimum age for the eruption or 9910 ± 130 years B.P. Stratigraphy indicates a small rhyolite dome at Acacia Bay, northeast Lake Taupo, was extruded from the eruptive vent during the later stages of the Karapiti Tephra eruption and is therefore also about 10 000 years old. Mineral and chemical data generally support this association. This is the first tephra-dome correlation established within Taupo Volcanic Centre.