An air-fall tephra layer from Etna volcano in the Fucino Basin area (central Italy) [Segnalazione di un livello piroclastico di provenienza etnea nell'area del fucino (Italia centrale)]

The paper refers on a characterization study carried out on a late Pleistocene tephra layer from slope deposits in the Fucino Basin area in central Italy. Results indicate that the tephra layer, of air-fall origin, is mainly composed of brown pumice particles; the mineral fraction shows predominant plagioclase. Glass shards of studied tephra have the benmoreitic chemical composition peculiar of Mt. Etna products. Mineralogical, microscopic and chemical characters, and the chronological context coincide with those of the so-called Y-1 layer identified in Mediterranean deep-sea sediments stratigraphy, related to the explosive event of Etna volcano which produced the Biancavilla-Montalto ignimbrite -14,000 yr B.P. Because of its peculiar composition and probable dispersion over a wide area, the tephra layer represents a useful stratigraphic marker for late Pleistocene sediments of central and southern Apennines. The presence of this tephra layer originating from Mt Etna, in the Fucino area allows to enlarge northwards the areal distribution of air-fall products related to the this explosive event.