Identification and dispersion of the campanian ash layer (Y-5) in the sediments of the Eastern Mediterranean

Sedimentological, mineralogical, optical, and geochemical analyses were used to identify pyroclastic material contained within gravity and piston cores recovered from the northwestern Aegean and Gulf of Corinth areas of the eastern Mediterranean Sea. The lithological, optical, and elemental signatures of the tephra suggest that the material originated from the Campanian Province of Italy, and is known as the Campanian Ash Layer or Y-5. The identification of the Y-5 layer in these two previously unreported areas extend the distribution of this stratigraphic marker and increases the quantitative estimates of pyroclastic material volume. In addition, our knowledge of sedimentary processes active within these two areas is extended.