Glacier-based climate reconstructions for the last glacial–interglacial transition: Arthur's Pass, New Zealand (43°S)
Corresponding Author
Shaun R. Eaves
Antarctic Research Centre, Victoria University of Wellington, PO Box 600 Wellington 6140, New Zealand
School of Geography, Environment, and Earth Science, Victoria University of Wellington, PO Box 600 Wellington 6140, New Zealand
Correspondence: S. R. Eaves, as above.
E-mail: [email protected]
Search for more papers by this authorBrian M. Anderson
Antarctic Research Centre, Victoria University of Wellington, PO Box 600 Wellington 6140, New Zealand
Search for more papers by this authorAndrew N. Mackintosh
Antarctic Research Centre, Victoria University of Wellington, PO Box 600 Wellington 6140, New Zealand
School of Geography, Environment, and Earth Science, Victoria University of Wellington, PO Box 600 Wellington 6140, New Zealand
Search for more papers by this authorCorresponding Author
Shaun R. Eaves
Antarctic Research Centre, Victoria University of Wellington, PO Box 600 Wellington 6140, New Zealand
School of Geography, Environment, and Earth Science, Victoria University of Wellington, PO Box 600 Wellington 6140, New Zealand
Correspondence: S. R. Eaves, as above.
E-mail: [email protected]
Search for more papers by this authorBrian M. Anderson
Antarctic Research Centre, Victoria University of Wellington, PO Box 600 Wellington 6140, New Zealand
Search for more papers by this authorAndrew N. Mackintosh
Antarctic Research Centre, Victoria University of Wellington, PO Box 600 Wellington 6140, New Zealand
School of Geography, Environment, and Earth Science, Victoria University of Wellington, PO Box 600 Wellington 6140, New Zealand
Search for more papers by this authorABSTRACT
Geological records of mountain glacier fluctuations provide useful evidence for tracing the magnitude and rate of past temperature change. In this study, we present air temperature reconstructions for the last glacial termination in New Zealand derived using snowline reconstructions and numerical glacier modelling. We target the Arthur's Pass moraines in the Otira River catchment, which have previously been dated to the Lateglacial using cosmogenic 10Be. Recalculation of these exposure ages using a locally calibrated 10Be production rate indicates that these moraines formed ca. 16–14 ka. Our glacier modelling experiments and snowline reconstructions exhibit good agreement and show that the Arthur's Pass moraines formed in a climate that was 2.2–3.5 °C colder than present. Combining our results with other, proximal glacier records shows that ice in this catchment retreated ca. 50 km from the coastal plain to the main divide during the interval 17–15 ka, in response to a temperature increase of at least ca. 3 °C. Over half of this retreat occurred after the glacier had withdrawn from an overdeepened basin. Thus, we conclude that temperature increase was the primary driver of widespread and rapid glacier retreat in New Zealand at the onset of the last glacial termination.
Supporting Information
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Table S1. Sample details used for age recalculation of the Misery moraine samples. Data sourced from Ivy-Ochs et al. (1999). |
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