Brent Alloway

New Zealand Journal of Geology & Geophysics, 2002, Vol. 45: 365-385 0028-8306/02/4503-0365 $7.00/0 © The Royal Society of New Zealand 2002 ... Growth of contractional structures during the last 10 my at the southern end of the emergent Hikurangi forearc basin, New ...

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Auckland occupies a climatically sensitive position close to a major biogeographic boundary in the southern mid-latitudes. A new pollen record from Kohuora maar crater, Auckland, displays vegetation and climatic changes for the past ca. 32 000 years. Of particular interest are the inferred climatic patterns for the first part of the interval, encompassing the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM). The Kohuora record corresponds closely with pollen records from other Auckland sites indicating that the patterns observed are at least regional in extent. It is also broadly consistent with a variety of palaeoenvironmental evidence from across New Zealand, including the glacial record from Westland, other palynological records from North Island, other palaeoecological records from the South Island, and aeolian quartz sequences from western North Island. These records show that glacial conditions prevailed across most, if not all, of New Zealand during the interval ca. 29–19 k cal. yr BP, longer and earlier than the LGM sensu stricto. We suggest that the term extended LGM (eLGM) may be more appropriate for the New Zealand region. Within this predominantly cold interval, the Auckland pollen records indicate a climatic amelioration for the interval ca. 26–24 k cal. yr BP, also consistent with other palaeocological data from Canterbury, that fall within a period of climate amelioration recognised between the first two eLGM glacial advances in Westland. We refer to this warming interval as the eLGM Interstadial. The ca. 27 k cal. yr BP Kawakawa/Oruanui tephra is instrumental in most of these inter-site comparisons and occurs after the first peak of eLGM cooling in a short-lived comparatively mild phase. A subsequent return to apparently colder climate in the Auckland records may indicate a volcanic cooling effect or, more likely, widespread landscape disturbance following this major eruption event. Strong correspondence between biotic responses, glacial fluctuations and aeolian quartz deposition linked to major shifts in strength and latitudinal extent of the southern westerlies suggest that both the eLGM and eLGM Interstadial may be more widely registered, at least across the Southern Ocean. Support for this assertion comes from parallel investigations in western and southernmost South America and isotopic and palaeoecological records from Southern Ocean marine cores. Recent reconstructions of the globally averaged ice-equivalent sea-level history are in line with this evidence from the Southern Hemisphere, suggesting that the eLGM may have a global registration. In light of these observations, we suggest a re-examination of the defined timing of the LGM along with renewed effort to establish climatic patterns during this period and understand their causes. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

It is widely recognised that the acquisition of high-resolution palaeoclimate records from southern mid-latitude sites is essential for establishing a coherent picture of inter-hemispheric climate change and for better understanding of the role of Antarctic climate dynamics in the global climate system. New Zealand is considered to be a sensitive monitor of climate change because it is one of a few sizeable landmasses in the Southern Hemisphere westerly circulation zone, a critical transition zone between subtropical and Antarctic influences. New Zealand has mountainous axial ranges that amplify the climate signals and, consequently, the environmental gradients are highly sensitive to subtle changes in atmospheric and oceanic conditions. Since 1995, INTIMATE has, through a series of international workshops, sought ways to improve procedures for establishing the precise ages of climate events, and to correlate them with high precision, for the last 30 000 calendar years. The NZ-INTIMATE project commenced in late 2003, and has involved virtually the entire New Zealand palaeoclimate community. Its aim is to develop an event stratigraphy for the New Zealand region over the past 30 000 years, and to reconcile these events against the established climatostratigraphy of the last glacial cycle which has largely been developed from Northern Hemisphere records (e.g. Last Glacial Maximum (LGM), Termination I, Younger Dryas). An initial outcome of NZ-INTIMATE has been the identification of a series of well-dated, high-resolution onshore and offshore proxy records from a variety of latitudes and elevations on a common calendar timescale from 30 000 cal. yr BP to the present day. High-resolution records for the last glacial coldest period (LGCP) (including the LGM sensu stricto) and last glacial–interglacial transition (LGIT) from Auckland maars, Kaipo and Otamangakau wetlands on eastern and central North Island, marine core MD97-2121 east of southern North Island, speleothems on northwest South Island, Okarito wetland on southwestern South Island, are presented. Discontinuous (fragmentary) records comprising compilations of glacial sequences, fluvial sequences, loess accumulation, and aeolian quartz accumulation in an andesitic terrain are described. Comparisons with ice-core records from Antarctica (EPICA Dome C) and Greenland (GISP2) are discussed. A major advantage immediately evident from these records apart from the speleothem record, is that they are linked precisely by one or more tephra layers. Based on these New Zealand terrestrial and marine records, a reasonably coherent, regionally applicable, sequence of climatically linked stratigraphic events over the past 30 000 cal. yr is emerging. Three major climate events are recognised: (1) LGCP beginning at ca. 28 000 cal. yr BP, ending at Termination I, ca. 18 000 cal. yr BP, and including a warmer and more variable phase between ca. 27 000 and 21 000 cal. yr BP, (2) LGIT between ca. 18 000 and 11 600 cal. yr BP, including a Lateglacial warm period from ca. 14 800 to 13 500 cal. yr BP and a Lateglacial climate reversal between ca. 13 500 and 11 600 cal. yr BP, and (3) Holocene interglacial conditions, with two phases of greatest warmth between ca. 11 600 and 10 800 cal. yr BP and from ca. 6 800 to 6 500 cal. yr BP. Some key boundaries coincide with volcanic tephras. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

The precise sequence of events during the Last Termination (18 000–9000 ka 14C yr BP), and the extent to which major environmental changes were synchronous, are difficult to establish using the radiocarbon method alone because of serious distortions of the radiocarbon time-scale, as well as the influences of site-specific errors that can affect the materials dated. Attention has therefore turned to other methods that can provide independent tests of the chronology and correlation of events during the Last Termination. With emphasis on European sequences, we summarise here the potential of tephrostratigraphy and tephrochronology to fulfil this role. Recent advances in the detection and analysis of ‘hidden’ tephra layers (cryptotephra) indicate that some tephras of Last Termination age are much more widespread in Europe than appreciated hitherto, and a number of new tephra deposits have also been identified. There is much potential for developing an integrated tephrochronological framework for Europe, which can help to underpin the overall chronology of events during the Last Termination. For that potential to be realised, however, there needs to be a more systematic and robust analysis of tephra layers than has been the practice in the past. We propose a protocol for improving analytical and reporting procedures, as well as the establishment of a centralised data base of the results, which will provide an important geochronological tool to support a diverse range of stratigraphical studies, including opportunities to reassess volcanic hazards. Although aimed primarily at Europe, the protocol proposed here is of equal relevance to other regions and periods of interest. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Abstract Late Pliocene to mid‐Pleistocene (c. 2.1–0.4 Ma) strata exposed in the, now classical, Nukumaru and Castlecliff coastal cliff sections north‐west of Wanganui comprise 25, 6th (41 ka) order and 5th (100 ka) order, shallow‐marine to marginal marine ...

... Anna Sandiford E-mail The Corresponding Author , a , Rewi Newnham Corresponding Author Contact Information , E-mail The Corresponding Author , b , Brent Alloway E-mail The Corresponding ... Mean high sea level is 3.67 m below the current crater floor ( [Coomber, 1998]). ...

ABSTRACT An open access copy of this article is available from the publishers website. A 52.5 m core was extracted from Pukaki Crater, an infilled basaltic explosion crater in the Auckland Volcanic Field, for detailed tephra and palynological analysis. The core consists of a lower 6 m of finely laminated lacustrine sediments representing the interval c. 28 000-6600 cal yr overlain by 46.5 m of homogeneous marine silts deposited between c. 7600 and 6600 cal yr. Favourable conditions have preserved at least 40 tephra layers in the sediments. These have been derived from one local and five distal sources and were deposited within the crater lake between c. 28 000 and c. 7600 cal yr. The tephra beds were identified by stratigraphic position, geochemical analyses, and ferromagnesian mineral assemblage. This tephrostratigraphic framework is underpinned by three distinctive tephra beds, namely Tuhua (c. 6950 cal yr), Rotoma (c. 9500 cal yr), and Kawakawa (c. 26 500 cal yr). Of the 40 tephra beds, 7 are sourced from the rhyolitic Okataina Volcanic Centre (Mamaku c. 8200 cal yr; Rotoma c. 9500 cal yr; Waiohau c. 13 800 cal yr; Rotorua c. 15 800 cal yr; Rerewhakaaitu c. 17 700 cal yr; Okareka c. 21 400 cal yr; Te Rere c. 25 000 cal yr), 3 from the rhyolitic Taupo Volcanic Centre (Opepe c. 10 200 cal yr; Kawakawa c. 26 500 cal yr; Poihipi c. 27 500 cal yr), 5 from the andesitic Tongariro Volcanic Centre, 14 from the andesitic Taranaki Volcano, 1 from Mayor Island (Tuhua c. 6950 cal yr), and 8 from the basaltic Auckland Volcanic Field. In addition, two previously unidentified rhyolitic tephra (c. 17 100 cal yr and c. 20 720 cal yr) are recorded. The occurrence of numerous andesitic and rhyolitic tephra beds in the Auckland region extends the known dispersal of the units and has implications for the assessment of volcanic hazards from distal sources. Many of the Taranaki-derived tephra beds do not stratigraphically match those recorded in the Waikato lakes region and this suggests that Taranaki Volcano produced more ash than previously estimated. The distal tephra record preserved at Pukaki provides age constraints for Auckland Volcanic Field basaltic tephra that are otherwise poorly dated. Basaltic fall events are recorded at c. 14 450 cal yr, 15 750 cal yr, 19 380 cal yr, 19 420 cal yr, 23 825 cal yr, 24 175 cal yr, 25 200 cal yr, and 25 700 cal yr. Fresh glass in the basaltic tephra allows them to be chemically fingerprinted and discriminated, and this will open a new avenue to development of a regional basaltic tephrostratigraphy.

Thick volcaniclastic sequences of early to middle Pleistocene age in southern North Island, New Zealand, contain rhyolitic tephra beds that record the early history of the Taupo volcanic zone (TVZ). At least 54 different tephra beds are recorded, and their chronology ...

Taupo Volcanic Zone (TVZ), in the North Island, New Zealand, is arguably the most active Quaternary rhyolitic system in the world. Numerous and widespread rhyolitic tephra layers, sourced from the TVZ, form valuable chronostratigraphic markers in onshore and offshore sedimentary sequences. In deep-sea cores from Ocean Drilling Program (ODP) Leg 181 Sites 1125, 1124, 1123 and 1122, located east of New Zealand, ca 100 tephra beds are recognised post-dating the Plio-Pleistocene boundary at 1.81 Ma. These tephras have been dated by a combination of magnetostratigraphy, orbitally tuned stable-isotope data and isothermal plateau fission track ages. The widespread occurrence of ash offshore to the east of New Zealand is favoured by the small size of New Zealand, the explosivity of the mainly plinian and ignimbritic eruptions and the prevailing westerly wind field.Although some tephras can be directly attributed to known TVZ eruptions, there are many more tephras represented within ODP-cores that have yet to be recognised in near-source on-land sequences. This is due to proximal source area erosion and/or deep burial as well as the adverse effect of vapour phase alteration and devitrification within near-source welded ignimbrites. Despite these difficulties, a number of key deep-sea tephras can be reliably correlated to equivalent-aged tephra exposed in uplifted marine back-arc successions of Wanganui Basin where an excellent chronology has been developed based on magnetostratigraphy, orbitally calibrated sedimentary cycles and isothermal plateau fission track ages on tephra. Significant Pleistocene tephra markers include: the Kawakawa, Omataroa, Rangitawa/Onepuhi, Kaukatea, Kidnappers-B, Potaka, Unit D/Ahuroa, Ongatiti, Rewa, Sub-Rewa, Pakihikura, Ototoka and Table Flat Tephras. Six other tephra layers are correlated between ODP-core sites but have yet to be recognised within onshore records.The identification of Pleistocene TVZ-sourced tephras within the ODP record, and their correlation to Wanganui Basin and other onshore sites is a significant advance as it provides: (1) an even more detailed history of the TVZ than can be currently achieved from the near-source record, (2) a high-resolution tephrochronologic framework for future onshore-offshore paleoenvironmental reconstructions, and (3) well-dated tephra beds correlated from the offshore ODP sites with astronomically tuned timescales provide an opportunity to critically evaluate the chronostratigraphic framework for onshore Plio-Pleistocene sedimentary sequences (e.g. Wanganui Basin, cf. Naish et al. [1998. Quaternary Science Reviews 17 695–710].

Ocean Drilling Program Sites 1123 and 1124 provide an unprecedented 12 my record of major rhyolitic eruptions from the Coromandel and Taupo volcanic zones of New Zealand. Macroscopic tephras (n = 197) were dated using magnetostratigraphy, supplemented by geochemical ...

... in the Wanganui Basin, New Zealand, based on the isothermal plateau fission-track dating of tephra horizons Brent V. Alloway a, Brad J. Pillans b, Amanjit S. Sandhu a and John A. Westgate aa Department of Geology, University of Toronto, Scarborough Campus, 1265 Military ...

At least nine rhyolitic eruptive events or sequences are interbedded with alternating marine and terrestrial sediments of Early-Middle Pleistocene age at Cape Kidnappers, New Zealand. The sediments represent one of the few high resolution glacio-eustatic sea level records in New Zealand. We have obtained ages of 0.99±0.09, 1.00±0.10, 0.86±0.05, and 0.79±0.06 Ma (in ascending stratigraphic order) for four prominent tephra beds, from isothermal plateau fission track dating of their glass shards. These ages are older than previous fission track determinations, but are in agreement with tephra correlations to other sections, Ar/Ar data, and magnetostratigraphy. However, the upper part of the sequence, previously interpreted as the Brunhes Chron, may have been affected by normal overprinting and is instead older. The tephra record suggests a higher frequency of eruptions than is indicated by the proximal ignimbrite record in the Taupo Volcanic Zone. The new tephra ages indicate that the section was deposited in the interval 1.0-0.65 Ma at a rapid average sedimentation rate of ca. 1 m/ka.

ABSTRACT A large number of distal, silicic tephra beds have been preserved in the late Cenozoic deposits of the Klondike region, Yukon Territory. Forty-one tephra samples, representing twelve distinctive beds, are detailed in this study. They range in composition from basaltic andesite to high-silica rhyolite, and were deposited during the late Pliocene to Late Wisconsinan time interval. Seven tephra beds are derived from volcanoes in the Wrangell volcanic field, and four come from the more distant eastern Aleutian arc - Alaska Peninsula region, but the source of the single andesitic tephra is unknown. The widespread and well known Old Crow and Sheep Creek tephra beds have been identified in the Klondike district, but all the other tephra units are characterized in detail for the first time. The ages of most tephra beds are poorly constrained, but will undoubtedly become better known with the application of recently developed glass fission-track methods. Hence, prospects are favourable for the eventual development of a comprehensive and reliable time-stratigraphic framework that will support on-going studies on the late Cenozoic geology, geomorphology, paleontology, and paleoenvironments of the Klondike area.

Laser ablation inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (LA-ICP-MS) is a high spatial resolution analytical method which has been applied to the analysis of silicic tephras. With current instrumentation, around 30 trace elements can be determined from single glass shards as small as ∼ 40 µm, separated from tephra deposits. As a result of element fractionation during the ablation process using a 266 nm laser, a relatively complex calibration strategy is required. Nonetheless, such a strategy gives analyses which are accurate (typically within ±5%) and have an analytical precision which varies from ∼ ±2% at 100 ppm, to ∼ ±15% at 1 ppm. Detection limits for elements used in correlation and discrimination studies are well below 1 ppm. Examples of the application of trace element analysis by LA-ICP-MS in tephra studies are presented from the USA, New Zealand and the Mediterranean.Improvements in instrumental sensitivity in recent years have the potential to lower detection limits and improve analytical precision, thus allowing the analysis of smaller glass shards from more distal tephras. Laser systems operating at shorter wavelengths (e.g. 193 nm) are now more widely available, and produce a much more controllable ablation in glasses than 266 nm lasers. Crater sizes of <10 µm are easily achieved, and at 193 nm many of the elemental fractionation issues which mar longer wavelengths are overcome. By coupling a short wavelength laser to a modern ICP-MS it should be possible to determine the trace element composition of glass shards as small as 20 µm and, providing sample preparation issues can be overcome, the determination of the more abundant trace elements in glass shards as small as 10 µm is within instrumental capabilities. This will make it possible to chemically fingerprint tephra deposits which are far from their sources, and will greatly extend the range over which geochemical correlation of tephras can be undertaken. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Abstract Vitric‐rich volcaniclastic horizons are important for correlation of glacio‐eustatic sedimentary cycles, both within the well known shallow‐marine record of Wanganui Basin, and other New Zealand terrestrial and deep marine records. They also record distal major ...