Marine terraces of the Waitutu district and their relation to the late Cenozoic tectonics of the southern Fiordland region, New Zealand

Abstract

preserved in the Waitutu district of southeast Fiordland. Alluvial terraces related to glaciation of the immediate hinterland cross the marine terraces and allow the terraces to be confidently matched to the glacial/interglacial sequence. Three wellpreserved marine terraces of the Last Interglacial separate fluvioglacial terraces of the Last and Penultimate Glaciations. An uplift rate of 1.1 mm/yr, derived from the altitude of the fourth youngest terrace inferred to represent oxygen isotope stage 5e, is used to estimate the ages of the older marine terraces by linear extrapolation, up to > 900,000 years. The Waitutu marine terraces traced into southwestern Fiordland decrease markedly in height, to levels corresponding to an uplift rate of 0.6 mm/yr. The higher peaks of Fiordland conform to a summit-level surface which is interpreted to be, in effect, a marine terrace of very early Pleistocene age. The surface is broadly domed in a pattern matching the marine terraces of the south coast. Many of the strong structural features in the vicinity of southern Fiordland, associated with the convergent boundary between the Indo-Australian and Pacific plates, are of late Miocene age and belie the simple deformation pattern of essentially epeirogenic uplift the area has undergone in the Quaternary.

Altitudinal patterns of vegetation, flora, life forms, and environments in the alpine zone of the Fiord Ecological Region, New Zealand

“…Areas of permanent snow are widespread along the central Southern Alps but more localised in Fiordland where the full altitudinal spectrum is represented at few locations due to their limited elevation. This is because of the intriguing accordance of peak heights in this region (Ward 1988), which accords with the height of Mt Burns (1645 m), on the Hunter Mountains in south-eastern Fiordland (Fig. 1).…”

Spatial and temporal variation in tree seed production and dispersal in a New Zealand temperate rainforest

“…The sites were distributed along a marine terrace sequence varying in age and soil fertility (Ward 1988, Mark et al 1988, Coomes et al 2005. Four sites were on uplifted marine terrace sites of intermediate fertility (;100 m above sea level [asl]) dominated by the conifers rimu (Dacrydium cupressinum), miro (Prumnopitys ferruginea), and Hall's totara (Podocarpus hallii ), and the angiosperms silver beech (N. menziesii ), mountain beech (N. solandri var.…”

Understanding ecosystem retrogression

“…Second, further research is needed to determine the bioavailability of supposedly recalcitrant forms of N and P during ecosystem retrogression. Third, long-term pedological changes can alter hydrological processes, sometimes creating impermeable pans or strata that promote waterlogging or prevent plants from accessing nutrients below them (e.g., Jenny et al 1969, Thompson 1981, Ward 1988. The end point vegetation of retrogression can thus be relatively high biomass open forest (e.g., Hawaii, Swedish islands), pygmy forest (e.g., Mendocino sequence, Franz Josef, Waitutu), shrubland (e.g., Cooloola, northern Arizona) or sparse shrub-herb fields (e.g., San Joaquin Valley).…”