Reply to: Possible magmatic CO2 influence on the Laacher See eruption date

• Authors: REINIG Frederick; WACKER Lukas; JÖRIS Olaf; OPPENHEIMER Clive; GUIDOBALDI Giulia; NIEVERGELT Daniel; ADOLPHI Florian; CHERUBINI Paolo; ENGELS Stefan; ESPER Jan; KEPPLER Frank; LAND Alexander; LANE Christine; PFANZ Hardy; REMMELE Sabine; SIGL Michael; SOOKDEO Adam; BÜNTGEN Ulf
• Year of publication: 2023
• Type: Article in Periodical
• Magazine / Source: Nature
• MU Faculty or unit: Faculty of Science
• Web: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-023-05966-0
• Doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41586-023-05966-0
• Keywords: Laacher See; Eruption; Geography; Palaeoclimate
• Description: We agree with Baldini et al.1 that the Laacher See tephra (LST) is a key Late Pleistocene chronostratigraphic unit across much of Europe. We also agree that the LST needs to be dated precisely to synchronize proxy archives and to better understand climate and environmental changes during the Late Glacial period. However, we disagree that our radiocarbon (14C) measurements from three subfossil trees killed and buried at different locations by the pyroclastic deposits of the Laacher See eruption (LSE)2 are possibly affected by outgassing magmatic carbon dioxide (CO2). Although the release of CO2 from active volcanic systems can influence 14C values3, we here provide both relict and modern radiocarbon evidence to demonstrate why our LSE date of 13,006?±?9 calibrated years before present (BP; taken as AD?1950) is correct.