Hostname: page-component-76fb5796d-x4r87 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-25T09:04:49.861Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

A Detailed 31,000-Year Record of Climate and Vegetation Change, from the Isotope Geochemistry of Two New Zealand Speleothems

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

John Hellstrom ,
Malcolm McCulloch  and
John Stone
John Hellstrom
Affiliation:
Research School of Earth Sciences, The Australian National University, Canberra, ACT 0200, Australia
Malcolm McCulloch
Affiliation:
Research School of Earth Sciences, The Australian National University, Canberra, ACT 0200, Australia
John Stone
Affiliation:
Research School of Earth Sciences, The Australian National University, Canberra, ACT 0200, Australia Department of Geological Sciences and Quaternary Research Center, Box 351310, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Uranium-series dating and stable isotope analyses of two speleothems from northwest Nelson, New Zealand, record changes in regional climate and local forest extent over the past 31,000 years. Oxygen isotope variation in these speleothems primarily represents changes in the meteoric waters falling above the caves, possibly responding to latitudinal changes in the position of the Subtropical Front in the Tasman Sea. Seven positive excursions can be identified in the oxygen isotope record, which coincide with periods of glacier advance, known to be sensitive to northward movement of the Subtropical Front. Four glacier advances occurred during oxygen isotope stage 2, with the most extreme glacial conditions centered on 19,000 cal yr B.P. An excursion in the oxygen isotope record from 13,800 to 11,700 cal yr B.P. provides support for a previously identified New Zealand glacier advance at the time of the Younger Dryas Stade, but suggests it began slightly before the Younger Dryas as recorded in Greenland ice cores. Carbon isotope variations in the speleothems record changes in forest productivity, closely matching existing paleovegetation records. On the basis of vegetation changes, stage 2 glacial climate conditions terminated abruptly in central New Zealand, from 15,700 to 14,200 cal yr B.P. Evidence of continuous speleothem growth at one site suggests that depression of the local treeline was limited to 600–700 m below its present altitude, throughout the last 31,000 years.

Keywords

New Zealand Quaternary climateoxygen and carbon isotopesspeleothem climate recordsSubtropical Frontisotope paleovegetation record
Type
Original Articles
Information
Quaternary Research , Volume 50 , Issue 2 , September 1998 , pp. 167 - 178
Copyright
University of Washington

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Alloway, B.V., Stewart, R.B., Neall, V.E., and Vucetich, C.G. (1992). Climate of the last glaciation in New Zealand, based on aerosolic quartz influx in an andestic terrain. Quaternary Research 38, 170–179.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Baker, A., Ito, E., Smart, P.L., and McEwan, R.F. (1997). Elevated and variable values of13 . Chemical Geology 136, 170–263.Google Scholar
Bard, E., Arnold, M., Fairbanks, R.G., and Hamelin, B. (1993). 230 234 14 . Radiocarbon 35, 191–199.Google Scholar
Broecker, W.S., Peteet, D.M., and Rind, D. (1985). Does the ocean-atmosphere system have more than one stable mode of operation?. Nature 315, 21–26.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Chappell, J., and Shackleton, N.J. (1986). Oxygen isotopes and sea level. Nature 324, 137–140.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dansgaard, W. (1964). Stable isotopes in precipitation. Tellus XVI, 436–468.Google Scholar
Dansgaard, W., Johnsen, S.J., Clausen, H.B., Dahl-Jensen, D., Gundestrup, N.S., Hammer, C.U., Hvidberg, C.S., Steffensen, J.P., Sveinbjörnsdottir, A.E., Jouzel, J., and Bond, G. (1993). Evidence for general instability of past climate from a 350-kyr ice-core record. Nature 364, 218–220.Google Scholar
Denton, D.H., and Hendy, C.H. (1994). Younger Dryas age advance of the Franz Josef Glacier in the Southern Alps of New Zealand. Science 264, 1434–1437.Google Scholar
Dorale, J.A., González, L.A., Reagan, M.K., Pickett, D.A., Murrell, M.T., and Baker, R.G. (1992). A high-resolution record of Holocene climate change in speleothem calcite from Cold Water Cave, Northeast Iowa. Science 258, 1626–1630.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Dulinski, M., and Rozanski, K. (1990). Formation of13 12 . Radiocarbon 32, 7–16.Google Scholar
Fenner, J., Carter, L., and Stewart, R. (1992). Late Quaternary paleoclimatic and paleoceanographic change over northern Chatham Rise, New Zealand. Marine Geology 108, 383–404.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Fitzharris, B.B., Hay, J.E., and Jones, P.D. (1992). Behaviour of New Zealand glaciers and atmospheric circulation changes over the past 130 years. The Holocene 2, 97–106.Google Scholar
Gage, M. (1965). Some characteristics of Pleistocene cold climates in New Zealand. Transactions of the Royal Society of New Zealand: Geology 3, 11–21.Google Scholar
Garnier, B.J. (1958). The Climate of New Zealand.. Edward Arnold, London.Google Scholar
Gat, J.R. (1980). The isotopes of hydrogen and oxygen in precipitation. Handbook of Environmental Geochemistry Elsevier, Amsterdam.p. 21–47Google Scholar
Gellatly, A.F., Chinn, T.J., and Röthlisberger, F. (1988). Holocene glacier variations in New Zealand: A review. Quaternary Science Reviews 7, 227–242.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hendy, C.H. (1971). The isotope geochemistry of speleothems—I. The calculation of the effects of different modes of formation on the isotopic composition of speleothems and their applicability as palaeoclimatic indicators. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta 35, 801–824.Google Scholar
Hendy, C.H., and Wilson, A.T. (1968). Palaeoclimatic data from speleothems. Nature 219, 48–51.Google Scholar
Johnsen, S.J., Dansgaard, W., and White, J.W.C. (1989). The origin of Arctic precipitation under present and glacial conditions. Tellus 41B, 452–468.Google Scholar
Jouzel, J., Petit, J.R., Barkov, N.I., Barnola, J.M., Chappellaz, J., Ciais, P., Kotkyakov, V.M., Lorius, C., Petrov, V.N., Raynaud, D., and Ritz, C. (1992). The last deglaciation in Antarctica: Further evidence of a “Younger Dryas” type climatic event.Bard, E., Broecker, W.S. The Last Deglaciation: Absolute and Radiocarbon Chronologies Springer-Verlag, Berlin.231–266.Google Scholar
Li, W.X., Lundberg, J., Dickin, A.P., Ford, D.C., Schwarcz, H.P., McNutt, R., and Williams, D. (1989). High-precision mass-spectrometric uranium-series dating of cave deposits and implications for palaeoclimate studies. Nature 339, 534–536.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lorius, C., Jouzel, J., Ritz, C., Merlivat, L., Barkov, N.I., Korotkevich, Y.S., and Kotlyakov, V.M. (1985). A 150,000-year climate record from Antarctic ice. Nature 316, 591–596.Google Scholar
McGlone, M.S. (1988). New Zealand.Huntly, B., Web, T. III Vegetation History Kluwer Academic, Dordrecht.557–599.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
McGlone, M.S., Anderson, A.J., and Holdaway, R.N. (1994). An ecological approach to the Polynesian settlement of New Zealand.Sutton, D.G. The Origins of the First New Zealanders Auckland University Press, Auckland.136–163.Google Scholar
McGlone, M.S., Salinger, M.J., and Moar, N.T. (1993). Paleovegetation studies of New Zealand's climate since the Last Glacial Maximum.Wright, H.E., Kutzbach, J.E., Webb III, T., Ruddiman, W.F., Street-Perrott, F.A., Bartlein, P.J. Global Climates since the Last Glacial Maximum University of Minnesota Press, Minneapolis.294–317.Google Scholar
Merlivat, L., and Jouzel, J. (1979). Global climatic interpretation of the deuterium-oxygen-18 relationship for precipitation. Journal of Geophysicial Research 84, 5029–5033.Google Scholar
Miller, G.H., Magee, J.W., and Jull, A.J.T. (1997). Low-latitude glacial cooling in the Southern Hemisphere from amino-acid racemization in emu eggshells. Nature 385, 241–244.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Moar, N.T., and Suggate, R.P. (1996). Vegetation history from the Kaihinui (Last) Interglacial to the present, West Coast, South Island, New Zealand. Quaternary Science Reviews 15, 521–547.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Nelson, C.S., Hendy, C.H., and Cuthbertson, A.M. (1994). Oxygen isotope evidence for climatic contrasts between Tasman Sea and Southwest Pacific Ocean during the late Quaternary.Linden, G.J.v.d., Swanson, K.M., Muir, R.J. Evolution of the Tasman Sea Balkema, Rotterdam.181–197.Google Scholar
Pillans, B. (1991). New Zealand Quaternary stratigraphy: An overview. Quaternary Science Reviews 10, 405–418.Google Scholar
Pillans, B., McGlone, M., Palmer, A., Mildenhall, D., Alloway, B., and Berger, G. (1993). The Last Glacial Maximum in central and southern North Island, New Zealand: A paleoenvironmental reconstruction using the Kawakawa Tephra Formation as a chronostratigraphic marker. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 101, 283–304.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ravens, J.M. (1986). Nettlebed Cave.. New Zealand Speleological Society, Wellington.Google Scholar
Ravens, J.M. (1992). The Ellis Basin Cave System.. New Zealand Speleological Society, Wellington.Google Scholar
Salinger, M.J. (1983). New Zealand climate: The last 5 million years.Vogel, J.C. Late Cainozoic Palaeoclimates of the Southern Hemisphere Balkema, Rotterdam.131–150.Google Scholar
Singer, C., Shulmeister, J., and McLen, B. (1998). Evidence against a significant Younger Dryas cooling event in New Zealand. Science 281, 812–814.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Soons, J.M. (1979). Late Quaternary environments in the central South Island of New Zealand. New Zealand Geographer 35, 16–23.Google Scholar
Stirling, C.H., Esat, T.M., McCulloch, M.T., and Lambeck, K. (1995). High-precision U-series dating of corals from Western Australia and implications for the timing and duration of the last interglacial. Earth and Planetary Science Letters 135, 115–130.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Stuiver, M., Grootes, P.M., and Braziunas, T.F. (1995). The GISP2 δ18 . Quaternary Research 44, 341–354.Google Scholar
Stuiver, M., and Reimer, P.J. (1993). Extended14 14 . Radiocarbon 35, 215–230.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Suggate, R.P., and Moar, N.T. (1969). Revision of the chronology of the late Otira glacial. New Zealand Journal of Geology and Geophysics 13, 742–746.Google Scholar
Suggate, R.P. (1990). Late Pliocene and Quaternary glaciations of New Zealand. Quaternary Science Reviews 9, 175–197.Google Scholar
Taylor, C. B (1990). Stable Isotope Compositions of Monthly Precipitation Samples Collected in New Zealand and Rarotonga. Department of Scientific and Industrial Research, Lower Hutt, NZ.Google Scholar
Thiede, J. (1979). Wind regimes over the late Quaternary southwest Pacific Ocean. Geology 7, 259–262.Google Scholar
Thompson, L.G., Mosley-Thompson, E., Davis, M.E., Lin, P.-N., Henderson, K.A., Cole-Dai, J., Bolzan, J.F., and Liu, K.-b. (1995). Late Glacial stage and Holocene tropical ice core records from Huascarán, Peru. Science 269, 46–50.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Wardle, P. (1991). Vegetation of New Zealand.. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.Google Scholar
Williams, P.W. (1996). A 230ka record of glacial and interglacial events from Aurora Cave, Fiordland, New Zealand. New Zealand Journal of Geology and Geophysics 39, 225–241.Google Scholar
Wilson, A.T., Hendy, C.H., and Reynolds, C.P. (1979). Short-term climate change and New Zealand temperatures during the last millenium. Nature 279, 315–317.Google Scholar
Wright, I.C., McGlone, M.S., Nelson, C.S., and Pillans, B.J. (1995). An integrated latest Quaternary (Stage 3 to present) paleoclimatic and Paleoceanographic record from offshore northern New Zealand. Quaternary Research 44, 283–293.CrossRefGoogle Scholar