AMS radiocarbon age of the Kurodake pyroclastic-flow deposit in Kuju volcanic group, SW Japan

Okuno, Mitsuru*; Nagaoka, Shinji*; Kokubu, Yoko   ; Nakamura, Toshio*; Kobayashi, Tetsuo*

Kuju volcanic group, located in central Kyushu, Japan, consists of over twenty volcanoes (lava domes as well as small stratovolcanoes). The Kurodake is largest lava dome with a volume of 1.6 km, and generated Kurodake pyroclastic-flow (Kj-Kd) and ash-fall (Kj-KdA) deposits. To refine age of the Kurodake eruption, we conducted radiocarbon dating of a charcoal fragment in the Kj-Kd with an AMS system at Tono Geoscience Center, JAEA. The obtained C date, 150540 BP, can correspond to 1310-1423 cal BP (probability= 74.6%), 1430-1442 cal BP (2.4%) and 1456-1521 cal BP (23.0%) in 2 confidence level. The medium probability date, 1391 cal BP, is consistent with the stratigraphy and gives the reliable age for the Kj-Kd.