Skip navigational links Glacial History and climate reconstruction from the South Island, New Zealand
This project is supported by a grant from NOAA
, Office of Global Programs Principal Investigators: George Denton, Marcus Vandergoes
The goals of this project are to produce detailed reconstructions of glacier history and climate change during the last 30,000 years (Late Quaternary). Mapping of glacial deposits to determine past ice limits will continue along the West and Eastern margins of the New Zealand Southern Alps (G. Denton). Lake sediment samples and lake cores will be collected (M Vandergoes) and used to develop high-resolution records of temperature change through the analysis of the fossil remains of non-biting midges. These records will allow interpretations of the timing, structure and magnitude of climate change in New Zealand during the Last Glacial Maximum and deglaciation (c. 30,000-10,000 years before present), and be used to test hypotheses related to the cause and global distribution of ice ages and rapid climate change.
