Refractive index and chemical composition were determined for glass shards contained in more than 100 tephra layers in DSDP Leg 58 sediment cores collected in the Shikoku Basin, North Philippine Sea. The refractive index is consistent with chemical composition. Refractive index and total iron show a linear relationship. Tephra in Pleistocene and Pliocene sediments is mostly rhyolitic and dacitic (non-alkali), whereas tephra in the Miocene shows wide composition variations in the eastern part of the basin. Basaltic tephra is recognized in Miocene sediments at Sites 443 and 444, but not at Site 442, west of the other two sites. This indicates that the basaltic tephra came from eruption relatively close to those drill sites (perhaps the Kinan Seamounts and the Shichito-Iwo Jima volcanic arc), although the exact source has not been identified.

Supplement to: Furuta, Toshio; Arai, Fusao (1980): Petrographic and geochemical properties of tephras in Deep Sea Drilling Project Cores from the North Philippine Sea. In: deVries Klein, G; Kobayashi, K; et al. (eds.), Initial Reports of the Deep Sea Drilling Project (U.S. Govt. Printing Office), 58, 617-627