Two sediment sequences from Pukekawa crater, Auckland Domain, contain silty clay underlain by fibrous peat. The peat contains a pollen flora and wood indicating the presence of a warm-temperate, conifer-hardwood forest with Metrosideros, Agathis, Prumnopitys taxifolia, P. ferruginea, and especially Dacrydium. Radiocarbon dates indicate that the peat was deposited before the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM). Absence of tephras and small amounts of Fuscospora pollen indicate probable non-preservation of the LGM. The pollen flora of most of the clay contains Metrosideros, Ascarina, and ferns, indicating post-LGM warmer, wetter conditions. The two uppermost samples contain exotic pollen, indicating that they are post-European in origin. Excavation and levelling to form sports fields and parkland appears to have curtailed and mixed the Holocene record.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.