Weathering of paleosols in Holocene and late Pleistocene tephras in Central North Island, New Zealand

Birrell, K. S.; Pullar, W. A.

doi:10.1080/00288306.1973.10431390

Cited by 26 publications

(8 citation statements)

References 4 publications

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“…Crystals lack evidence of chemical etching and glass shards are not altered to clays. For example, under humid temperate conditions years old are > 60% clay (Lowe and Nelson, 1983;Birrell and Pullar, 1973;Lowe, 1986). The chemical stability of surficial ash deposits is consistent with persistent cold-desert conditions in Arena V This is because at the ground surface glass is unstable and quickly alters to clay.…”

Section: Group 3 Driftsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Volcanic glass is unstable at the ground surface and alters to clay at a rate dependent on atmospheric temperature and the abundance of pore water. For example, under humid temperate conditions in New Zealand, which are compatible with growth of Nothofagus, volcanic ashes older than about 50,000 years have weathered to >60% clay (Birrell and Pullar, 1973;Lowe and Nelson, 1983;Lowe, 1986). For example, under humid temperate conditions in New Zealand, which are compatible with growth of Nothofagus, volcanic ashes older than about 50,000 years have weathered to >60% clay (Birrell and Pullar, 1973;Lowe and Nelson, 1983;Lowe, 1986).…”

Section: Regional Correlationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Miocene-Pliocene-Pleistocene Glacial History of Arena Valley, Quartermain Mountains, Antarctica

Marchant¹,

Denton²,

Swisher³

1993

Geografiska Annaler. Series A, Physical Geography

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Section: Group 3 Driftsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Regional Correlationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Miocene-Pliocene-Pleistocene Glacial History of Arena Valley, Quartermain Mountains, Antarctica

Marchant¹,

Denton²,

Swisher³

1993

Geografiska Annaler. Series A, Physical Geography

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“…This is attributed to an input during each hiatus of darker and more rapidly weathered andesitic ash from Tongariro. Contamination of the soils with andesitic ash was also inferred by Birrell & Pullar (1973) Opepe Tephra Formation and the paleosol overlain by Hinemaiaia Tephra Formation at the type section on Opawa Road (N103/518135-) shown on Fig. 1 and 2.…”

Section: Paleosolsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Motutere Tephra Formation and redefinition of Hinemaiaia Tephra formation, Taupo Volcanic Centre, New Zealand

Froggait

1981

New Zealand Journal of Geology and Geophysics

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Motutere and Hinemaiaia Tephra Formations are moderately widespread rhyolitic tephras erupted from near the southeast margin of Lake Taupo. The 2 multiple-bedded formations constitute a prolonged eruptive sequence interrupted by a short hiatus. The eruptive sequence comprises a plinian-type eruption of coarse pumice lapilli (Motutere Tephra (new name), volume c. 1 kIn 3 ), and further eruptions of a more widespread vitric ash (Hinemaiaia Tephra, volume c. 3 kIn 3 ) apparently related to the growth of a rhyolite dome. Isopach data for both tephras place the eruptive vent near the southeast margin of Lake Taupo in the vicinity of Te Rangiita. Bathymetry and geophysical data suggest the presence of a rhyolite dome 2 kIn offshore and within the vent area.Two unpublished radiocarbon dates of 5370 ± 90 years B.P. (NZ4846A) for Motutere Tephra and 4650 ± 80 years B.P. (NZ4574A) (old T!) for Hinemaiaia Tephra establish the age of these tephras.

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“…An important advantage associated with these soils in New Zealand is that their ages are able to be constrained to some degree by tephrochronology, a unique stratigraphic method for linking and dating sequences or events [10,12], which thus provides a framework for studies on rates of pedogenesis [13,14], paleopedology (the study of paleosols, which are soils of an environment or landscape of the past, usually buried) [15][16][17][18][19], and paleoclimatology [20][21][22]. The role of soil stratigraphy-the interplay between geological deposition, soil formation, buried soils (paleosols), and their chronological relationships (sometimes called pedostratigraphy, for example [23][24][25])-is therefore enhanced through tephrostratigraphy that underpins and informs the application of tephrochronology [10,26,27].…”

Section: Using Tephrochronology To Facilitate Study Of Late Quaternarmentioning

confidence: 99%

Using Soil Stratigraphy and Tephrochronology to Understand the Origin, Age, and Classification of a Unique Late Quaternary Tephra-Derived Ultisol in Aotearoa New Zealand

Lowe

2019

Quaternary

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In this article, I show how an Ultisol, representative of a globally-important group of soils with clay-rich subsoils, low base saturation, and low fertility, in the central Waikato region in northern North Island, can be evaluated using soil stratigraphy and tephrochronology to answer challenging questions about its genesis, age and classification. The Kainui soil, a Typic Kandiudult (Soil Taxonomy) and Buried-granular Yellow Ultic Soil (New Zealand Soil Classification), occurs on low rolling hills of Mid-Quaternary age mainly in the Hamilton lowlands in, and north and northeast of, Hamilton city. It is a composite, multi-layered tephra-derived soil consisting of two distinct parts, upper and lower. The upper part is a coverbed typically c. 0.4–0.7 m in thickness (c. 0.6 m on average) comprising numerous late Quaternary rhyolitic and andesitic tephras that have been accumulating incrementally since c. 50 ka (the age of Rotoehu Ash at the coverbed’s base) whilst simultaneously being pedogenically altered (i.e., forming soil horizons) via developmental upbuilding pedogenesis during Marine Oxygen Isotope Stages (MOIS) 3-1. Any original depositional (fall) bedding has been almost entirely masked by pedogenic alteration. Sediments in lakes aged c. 20 ka adjacent to the low hills have preserved around 40 separate, thin, macroscopic tephra-fall beds mainly rhyolitic in composition, and equivalent subaerial deposits together form the upper c. 30 cm of the coverbed. Okareka (c. 21.8 ka), Okaia (c. 28.6 ka), Tāhuna (c. 39.3 ka) and (especially) Rotoehu tephras make up the bulk of the lower c. 30 cm of the coverbed. Tephra admixing has occurred throughout the coverbed because of soil upbuilding processes. Moderately well drained, this upper profile is dominated by halloysite (not allophane) in the clay fraction because of limited desilication. In contrast, Otorohanga soils, on rolling hills to the south of Hamilton, are formed in equivalent but thicker (>c. 0.8 m) late Quaternary tephras ≤c. 50 ka that are somewhat more andesitic although predominantly rhyolitic overall. These deeper soils are well drained with strong desilication and thus are allophanic, generating Typic Hapludands. Ubiquitous redox features, together with short-lived contemporary reduction observed in the lower coverbed of a Kainui soil profile, indicate that the Kainui soil in general is likely to be saturated by perching for several days, or near saturation for several months, each year. The perching occurs because the coverbed overlies a slowly-permeable, buried, clay-rich paleosol on upper Hamilton Ash beds, >c. 50 ka in age, which makes up the lower part of the two-storeyed Kainui soil. The coverbed-paleosol boundary is a lithologic discontinuity (unconformity). Irregular in shape, it represents a tree-overturn paleosurface that may be c. 74 ka in age (MOIS 5/4 boundary). The buried paleosol is markedly altered and halloysitic with relict clay skins (forming paleo-argillic and/or paleo-kandic horizons) and redoximorphic features. It is inferred to have formed via developmental upbuilding pedogenesis during the Last Interglacial (MOIS 5e). The entire Hamilton Ash sequence, c. 3 m in thickness and overlain unconformably by Rotoehu Ash and underlain by c. 330-ka Rangitawa Tephra at the base, represents a thick composite (accretionary) set of clayey, welded paleosols developed by upbuilding pedogenesis from MOIS 10 to 5.

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Weathering of paleosols in Holocene and late Pleistocene tephras in Central North Island, New Zealand

Cited by 26 publications

References 4 publications

Miocene-Pliocene-Pleistocene Glacial History of Arena Valley, Quartermain Mountains, Antarctica

Miocene-Pliocene-Pleistocene Glacial History of Arena Valley, Quartermain Mountains, Antarctica

Motutere Tephra Formation and redefinition of Hinemaiaia Tephra formation, Taupo Volcanic Centre, New Zealand

Using Soil Stratigraphy and Tephrochronology to Understand the Origin, Age, and Classification of a Unique Late Quaternary Tephra-Derived Ultisol in Aotearoa New Zealand

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