Glacial and climatic history of Boulder Lake, NW Nelson, New Zealand

Abstract

Southern mid-latitude regions are critical for understanding how the global climate system alternates between glacial and interglacial states. New Zealand, located between 34 °S and 45 °S in the dominantly oceanic Southern Hemisphere, is well positioned to record suuch transitions. Palaeo-climate information should directly reflect changes in the ocean-atmospheric system without complexities associated with Northern Hemisphere ice sheet and continental feedbacks. Glacial records, although fragmentary, can provide information regarding late-Pleistocene terrestrial climate. Past variation in temperature, precipitation and atmospheric circulation have all been reconstructed from well dated glacial sequences (e.g., Andrews and Miller, 1972; Leonard, 1989; Ballantyne, 2002). Temperate maritime glaciers, such as those in New Zealand, are particularly suitable candidates for glacier-climate research due to their sensitivity to small climate changes (Sutherland, 1984; Lamont et al. 1999).