Revised chronology of the youngest volcanoes of the chaîne des puys (french Massif central)

A revised chronology of the youngest volcanoes in the Chaîne des Puys, French Massif Central, reveals that a period of active volcanism—characterized by two to three eruptions per millennium—ended around 7,000 years ago. This marks the conclusion of a volcanic cycle initiated approximately 80,000 years prior, involving deep magma reservoirs and shallow chamber differentiation. The study, using tephrostratigraphy, thermoluminescence dating, and radiocarbon dating, also corrected previously assumed relative chronologies between volcanoes like Pariou and Chopine while identifying previously unknown eruptions. These findings provide critical insights into the Upper Pleistocene and Holocene volcanism of the region.

Miallier, D., Pilleyre, T., Sanzelle, S., Boivin, P., & Lanos, P. (2012). Revised chronology of the youngest volcanoes of the chaîne des puys (french Massif central). Quaternaire, vol. 23/4, 283–290. https://doi.org/10.4000/quaternaire.6367