Magli, Andrea, Speranza, Fabio, Branca, Stefano, Corsaro, Rosa Anna, Coltelli, Mauro, Malaguti, Arianna Beatrice, and Giordano, Guido
During the last 20 kyr, the Etna volcano has been characterized by almost continuous summit eruptions and by less frequent—yet definitely more destructive—flank eruptions issuing at <1,000 m asl altitudes and reaching the Ionian Sea. The chronological framework of pre‐historic (pre‐2,750 yr BP) flank eruptions is supported only by few radiometric and paleomagnetic ages. Here we paleomagnetically investigated 15 Holocene lava flows from SE Etna lower slopes and dated 12 of them. Paleomagnetic dating at Etna relies on best method pre‐requisites: European location where reference geomagnetic models are well defined, and detailed stratigraphic evidence is available. We sampled 45 sites (450 oriented cores) from lavas loosely constrained in the 19,000–2,000 yr BP age window. Ten eruptions yielded a minimum 40% refinement with respect to initial age constraints, with four lava flows achieving refinement up to 90%. We obtained 620–1,398 yr (998 yr on average) dating accuracy for three flows bracketed in relatively short (1,398–1,644 yr) independent age constraints. By contrast, five flows characterized by longer 6,567–7,439 yr initial age windows yielded multiple age solutions. Finally, four lava flows with 1,644–6,567 yr‐long initial age windows were tightly dated with 120–680 yr age ranges. We conclude that at volcanoes where best paleomagnetic dating pre‐requisite are fulfilled, singular solutions are expected for 30% of the analyzed flows and, significant refinements for the others. Seven kyr seems to represent an independent age window threshold length to get or not significant dating refinements. Plain Language Summary: Reconstructing a volcano's past eruptive activity, particularly over the last few centuries or millennia, is essential for conducting comprehensive long‐term hazard assessments. Mount Etna (Sicily, Italy) is an active basaltic volcano characterized by infrequent but highly destructive flank eruptions whose lava flows historically have impacted the populated lower slopes of the volcano. As the timing of the Etna prehistoric flank eruptions currently remains poorly determined, we used the paleomagnetic dating method, which offers a high level of precision that is challenging to achieve using alternative radiometric techniques in Holocene (i.e., last ca. 14 ky) basaltic products. Out of a total of 15 Holocene lava flows investigated, which are distributed over the Etna SE lower slopes, we paleomagnetically dated 12 flows by comparing their flow‐mean paleomagnetic directions with Paleo‐Secular Variation (PSV) reference curves, the latter showing the changes of the geomagnetic field over time. Our data show that for most of the studied eruptions, the paleomagnetic ages significantly reduce their independent age constraints, thus providing an improvement to the understanding of Etna Holocene eruptive activity. Key Points: Paleomagnetic dating of 12 Etna Holocene flank lava flows provided 40%–90% refinement of independent age constraints for 10 eruptionsAt Etna, where best method pre‐requisites are satisfied, paleomagnetic dating provides singular age solutions for ca. 30% of the dated flowsPaleomagnetism reduce by more than 40%–50% the eruptions' age windows for flows with independent age intervals lower than 7,000 years [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]