uncertainties in the relative positions of the australia antarctica lord howe and pacific plates since the late cretaceous we determined parameters that describe finite rotations and their uncertainty regions for relative plate motion at the spreading centers between the pacific and antarctica plates between australia and antarctica and between the lord howe rise and australia we combined these to yield a range of possible finite rotations describing the relative positions of the pacific australia antarctica and lord howe plates since the late cretaceous if the pacific australia plate boundary has had its present trend since anomaly 18 time reconstructions show 330 110 km of motion of the pacific plate relative to the lord howe rise since anomaly 5 time 9 8 m y 420 110 km since anomaly 6 time 19 5 m y 770 330 km since anomaly 13 time 35 6 m y and 820 260 km since anomaly 18 time 43 0 m y we examined two cases for times prior to anomaly 18 assuming a late cretaceous age of australia antarctica separation if a plate boundary existed between the lord howe rise and pacific plates since the late cretaceous with no plate boundary in antarctica reconstructions with the lord howe rise fixed predict 610 200 km of westward motion of the pacific plate between the times of anomalies 31 and 22 followed by 260 100 km of northward motion between the times of anomalies 22 and 18 if the lord howe rise was fixed to the pacific plate until the eocene but a plate boundary existed between east and west antarctica reconstructions show very little motion across this boundary between the times of anomalies 31 and 22 followed by convergence between the times of anomalies 22 and 18 this second case also brings 70 80 m y paleomagnetic poles from the pacific and east antarctica plates into better agreement than the first case but large uncertainties in the reconstructions do not allow the first case to be conclusively eliminated

distribution and mechanism of neogene to present day vertical axis rotations pacific australian plate boundary zone south island new zealand remarkably little knowledge exists about mechanisms of vertical axis rotation in continental crust steeply dipping basement rocks in south island new zealand provide an opportunity to map the distribution of rotations across the pacific australian plate boundary zone and to delineate boundaries of rotated blocks in unusual detail we synthesize new structural data with new and existing paleomagnetic data with geodetic data and with patterns of neogene quaternary faulting in the strike slip marlborough fault system for the past 20 m y vertical axis rotations have been hinged about two crustal scale boundaries near the east coast the ne hinge accommodated 50 of early middle miocene clockwise rotation which caused deformation of the eastern ends of the alpine wairau and clarence strike slip faults the sw hinge has accommodated a further 30 50 of finite clockwise rotation since 4 ma and deflects active fault traces the locus of rotation has shifted southwestward astride a subduction margin that is lengthening in that direction rotating rocks are pinned to the south against a locked collision zone where the continental chatham rise impinges against the margin slip on inland strike slip faults is transformed seaward across a zone of fault termination into rigid body rotation of a large continental block that has been thrust eastward over the downgoing subducted slab of the pacific plate the rotation mechanism is a migrating hinge which resembles a flexed telephone book strike slip faults are translated through a brecciated hinge region that does not coincide with a fixed material line in the rock

late cretaceous cenozoic tectonic development of the southwest pacific region abstract a new model of the plate tectonic development of the southwest pacific integrates the continental geology of new zealand with the age structure of the surrounding oceanic crust revealed previously from magnetic anomaly lineations the model differs from previous ones in that the onland geology of new zealand is used to constrain the tectonic development in two important ways 1 the modern australia pacific plate boundary did not transect the new zealand sector until 23 million years ago 2 there has been a total of only c 500 km of dextral displacement on the plate boundary through new zealand the model is described with reference to a series of paleotectonic maps drawn to represent the setting at the times of anomalies 32 24 7 and 5 novel interpretations based on these reconstructions include the following during the late cretaceous the campbell fault was a continental transform fault between the tasman sea spreading centre and the bounty rift its 330 km of dextral displacement accompanying 25 of counterclockwise rotation of a campbell plateau block when the eastward propagating southeast indian ridge broke into the south tasman sea 57 million years ago it continued to propagate directly into southern south island and generated late eocene oligocene continental rifting through western new zealand at the same time back arc spreading in the norfolk basin caused continental rifting along a similar trend in western north island the australia pacific plate boundary originated as a transform fault between the southeast indian ridge and the pre existing kermadec trench it developed in response to the sudden cessation of spreading on the segment of the southeast indian ridge east of a fracture zone here named fracture zone z two implications arise from this model regarding the integrity of antarctica 1 1 during the cretaceous marie byrd land was probably no more than 200 km northwest of its present position 2 2 the proposition made in some earlier plate tectonic reconstructions that if the alpine fault did not form until after the late eocene there must be a late cretaceous early tertiary plate boundary within antarctica is most probably valid

tectonic rotations about vertical axes during the last 4 ma in part of the new zealand plate boundary zone the declinations of the primary magnetization of sedimentary rocks in the northern part of the new zealand plate boundary zone after thermal or alternating field cleaning have been used to determine tectonic rotations about vertical axes of rigid crustal blocks the pattern of rotations during the last 4 ma combined with structural style and continuity defines seven structural domains each ca 100 100 200 km across which contain crustal blocks up to 100 km across and 20 km thick large crustal blocks tens of km across in two of these domains have rotated clockwise more than 20 relative to one of the margins of the plate boundary zone in the last 4 ma their behaviour appears to be controlled by the nature of the plate boundaries such as the presence of an underlying subducted slab and the strength of the crust at the back of the overlying crustal wedge small crustal blocks 10 km across may have rotated clockwise through angles greater than 20 during the last 4 ma floating on an underlying zone of more distributed deformation the tectonic rotations of the large crustal blocks and the nature of the deformation at their boundaries combined with an interpolation of the relative plate positions can be used to reconstruct the plate boundary zone at ca 4 ma

paleostress adjacent to the alpine fault broader implications from fault analysis near nelson south island new zealand stress tensor determinations from probable mio pliocene age minor faults along the edge of the richmond block northwest of the alpine fault system of south island show pervasive thrusting rather than strike slip motion as proposed in some analyses this study with results almost identical to that of nicol and wise 1992 on the other side of the alpine marlborough fault system shows that the present pattern of regional compression at high angles to the alpine fault has persisted through much of the neogene over a width of about 150 km normal to the alpine fault zone one explanation might be san andreas type models invoking strike slip motion concentrated in fault zones by highly lubricating gouge coupled with strain partitioning to allow compression in adjacent regions to act at high angles to strike such models are difficult to apply to the new zealand example which now must include deformed forelands on either side of the zone but which shows little or no strike slip motion instead a model is proposed for a crustal scale flower structure to accommodate the along strike convergence of opposite dipping subducting plates a regional surface slab comprising marlborough and its adjacent forelands is undergoing compression normal to the strike of the system while semidetached deeper plate motion accommodates most of the fundamental converging oblique strike slip displacements

paleogene seafloor spreading in the southeast tasman sea magnetic anomalies 11 18 have been identified in the southeast tasman sea the area of ocean crust southwest of fiordland new zealand west of the puysegur trench the present plate boundary and southeast of the older 80 58 ma ocean crust of the tasman sea basin structures associated with two changes in spreading direction are preserved in the area spreading between the australian and pacific plates began in the eocene about 40 ma in this area orthogonal to cretaceous paleocene spreading between them in the tasman sea the boundary between the two ages of ocean crust is abrupt and associated with what we have interpreted as marginal uplift blocks and rift basins of the resolution ridge system rifting appears to have propagated northeast along a fracture zone the northern blocks of the resolution ridge system may be isolated fragments of continental crust of the campbell plateau between anomalies 18 and 11 40 30 ma the spreading rate was about 1 5 cm yr swath mapping and satellite altimetry data show that a second change in relative plate motion direction began shortly after anomaly 11 about 30 ma and led to a change from tension to transcurrent motion along the plate boundary the timing of the changes in spreading direction agrees with tectonic events interpreted from onshore data

three dimensional numerical experiments of strain partitioning at oblique plate boundaries implications for contrasting tectonic styles in the southern coast ranges california and central south island new zealand a three dimensional numerical model is used to investigate the nature and distribution of crustal scale deformation and strain partitioning across obliquely convergent transpressive plate boundaries a uniform elastic plastic crustal layer obeying murrell s extension to three dimensions of the griffith failure criterion was deformed under basal kinematic boundary conditions that correspond to the oblique convergence between two mantle lithospheres one of which detaches and subducts beneath the other the results show deformation concentrated in relatively narrow shear zones the character planar versus curved and dip of these shear zones or crustal scale faults depend on the relative amount of convergence versus transcurrent motion imposed across the plate boundary in models dominated by transcurrent boundary conditions two separate sets of coexisting structures develop 1 a pair of planar relatively shallow dipping thrust zones arranged in a v structure that accommodate convergent motion and 2 a set of curved near vertical strike slip zones arranged in a flower structure that accommodates the transcurrent motion in models dominated by convergence both contractional and transcurrent deformations are accommodated by oblique slip across a single pair of structures that have the same geometry as the thrust shear zones there is a gradational behavior between these end member partitioned and nonpartitioned modes for intermediate boundary conditions in all cases the dip of the shear zones predicted by the numerical model is in good agreement with the dip of ideal faults predicted by mohr s incipient faulting hypothesis the two basic modes are interpreted to underlie the contrasting tectonic styles of the southern coast ranges california and central south island new zealand factors other than obliquity of convergence which play a role in strain partitioning are discussed

the oligocene miocene pacific australia plate boundary south of new zealand evolution from oceanic spreading to strike slip faulting abstract since the eocene the pacific australia plate boundary south of new zealand has evolved from a spreading system into a transform boundary swath data acquired in the southeast tasman oceanic crust between the macquarie ridge complex and the resolution ridge system show that the spreading fabric changes orientation southwards along the puysegur trench striking successively n60 e n85 e and n120 e this reflects the reorganisation of the plate boundary in response to changes in relative plate motion a comparison of these orientations with the positions of the pacific australia relative poles of rotation enables us to estimate the age of stoc where there are no identified magnetic anomalies the youngest age of the oceanic crust is ca 12 ma at the south end of the puysegur trench this age is consistent with spreading rates and the amount of crust generated since 31 ma curved fracture zones on either side of the macquarie ridge complex suggest a continuous reorientation of transform faults between 31 ma and ca 15 ma small scale seafloor morphology shows a 13 change of orientation in the l atalante fracture zone that indicates incremental rather than continuous changes in azimuth of the transform faults patterns of fanning ridges indicate that periods of asymmetric spreading accompanied the spreading segment reorientations using swath data and plate reconstruction models we infer that between 31 and 12 ma the plate boundary reorganisation resulted in a continuous increase in the ratio of the cumulative length of transform faults over the cumulative length of spreading segments along the whole plate boundary this indicates that since 14 15 ma the plate boundary has become progressively predominantly transcurrent allowing strike slip motion to develop along a line of merging transform faults that connected to the intracontinental alpine fault

geodetically determined strain across the southern end of the tonga kermadec hikurangi subduction zone summary a method of simultaneous reduction is presented for determining strain rates from multiple triangulation surveys where common triangulation stations have been used but the angles of the old survey have not necessarily been reobserved this method is applied to triangulation in the northern south island at the southern end of the tonga kermadec hikurangi subduction zone from a profile of shear strain across the indian pacific plate boundary the displacement of the indian plate relative to the pacific is calculated to be 54 9 mm yr at an azimuth of 84 f lo in remarkable agreement with the motion predicted by global plate tectonic models most of this motion occurs within a 15okm wide zone bounded on the east by the hikurangi trough within this zone the motion is partitioned near the hikurangi trough no slip is occurring at the upper surface of the subducting pacific plate the subduction thrust and motion is predominantly thrusting normal to the trough axis to the west is a region of predominantly dextral strike slip faulting this pattern is consistent with fitch s model of oblique subduction to the south of the profile a change is observed in the azimuth of the faulting along a line which marks the southern extent of the subduction slab indicating the end of the partitioned motion

large tectonic rotations in a wide zone of neogene distributed dextral shear northeastern south island new zealand abstract the new zealand plate boundary zone in the northern part of south island new zealand comprises a series of active dextral strike slip faults referred to as the marlborough fault zone mfz which link oblique continental convergence farther south along the alpine fault to subduction of the pacific plate along the hikurangi margin new paleomagnetic data are presented which together with previous studies suggest coherent neogene clockwise rotation up to 130 about a vertical axis of crustal blocks in the mfz starting at 20 ma there is a striking correlation between the amount of observed rotation and the trend of mesozoic basement structures creating this part of the new zealand orocline in a zone of distributed dextral shear about 100 km wide which has persisted for about 20 ma in the southern part of the mfz crustal blocks appear to be on a scale of 1 10 km with boundaries that are subparallel to the basement strike this way deformation is accommodated by a combination of fault slip and rotation in a zone of more pervasive dextral shear resulting in coherent bending of the basement structure in the central part of the mfz this rotation appears to be that of elongate crustal blocks 50 km 10 km in size rotating 80 clockwise at an average rotation rate 4 ma in detail the rotation rate has decreased towards the present from 6 ma at 20 ma to

river response to an active fold and thrust belt in a convergent margin setting north island new zealand high resolution digital elevation data topsar 10 m grid are used to reconstruct late quaternary growth histories of subtle folding in the wairarapa fold and thrust belt north island new zealand outcrop data of deformed latest miocene and younger strata are combined with observations of warped and faulted late quaternary terrace surfaces to unravel the geomorphic and structural history of the huangarua river valley optically stimulated luminescence osl dating of loess that accumulated on these strath terraces and paleosol stratigraphy allow temporal correlation among the terraces and with glacial climate cycles since the last interglaciation these data indicate that five intervals of strath cutting occurred at 125 60 70 30 15 and 10 ka strath beveling is largely independent of local folding or regional base level change we hypothesize that straths are cut when an increase in sediment supply during cool climatic periods brings river sediment load and river transport capacity into balance in the wairarapa strath cutting events appear to occur near the end of cool climatic cycles this study shows that the identification of subtle departures from regional topographic trends becomes practical when a high resolution dem is available after subtraction of an average valley gradient from the digital topography the residual topography on the terrace treads reveals cross valley and longitudinal tilting although rates of folding are slow and the magnitude of deformation is commonly limited to less than a few tens of meters these topographic anomalies define fold axes that coincide with subsurface structures when combined with time control these anomalies serve to define the patterns and rates of fold growth over the past 125 kyears

crystal seismic observations across the convergent plate boundary north island new zealand abstract seismic reflection profiles recorded across southern north island new zealand define the structural details of a convergent plate boundary the eastern profile delineates the thrust wedges and back tilted basins of the accretionary prism which overlies a detachment zone marking the top of the subducted pacific plate most of the younger part of this wedge is isolated from the landward part of the sequence by an oceanward dipping detachment zone the western profile defines a broad crustal downwarp in the back arc region of the plate boundary overlying the 20 50 km deep subduction zone the crustal section farther to the west comprises a generally transparent middle crustal layer and a reflective lower crust dipping reflective zones in the middle crust may delineate low angle normal faulting associated with a cretaceous extensional episode detailed seismological data demonstrate the close association of the top of a zone of high seismicity inferred to mark the subducted pacific plate with the base of the reflective sequence identified as the base of the overriding australian plate

intraplate deformation adjacent to the macquarie ridge south of new zealand the tectonic evolution of a complex plate boundary abstract the distribution of relocated seismicity and the evolving shape of fracture zones through time in the oceanic crust of the australian plate adjacent to the australia pacific plate boundary south of new zealand are used to constrain the deformation of this region of the australian plate here called the puysegur block relocated seismicity reveals a broad distribution of earthquakes in the puysegur block on both inter and intraplate structures including two great m8 earthquakes in the region over the past twenty years one of which occurred over 130 km from the plate boundary plate reconstructions from the late oligocene through early mid miocene allow us to determine the undeformed shape of fracture zones in the puysegur block formed during the paleogene when the plate boundary was dominantly a divergent mid ocean ridge system comparing these reconstructions to the present day shape of the fracture zones allows us to map the deformation that has occurred within the puysegur block since the fracture zones formed these two sets of independent observations delineate a broad zone of deformation extending 150 km into the plate interior from the macquarie ridge complex the modern plate boundary structure through the region the persistence of this deformation through time indicates a link with the evolution of the plate boundary over the past 25 ma from divergence to translation and subduction of the australian plate further north at the puysegur trench we infer that this deformation may be a result of stresses in the puysegur block resulting from the impingement of the subducting plate on the thickened lithosphere of southern new zealand such a collision may resist subduction and if resistance remains substantial further deformation internal to the puysegur block may lead to a southward migration of the australia pacific subduction interface and the capturing of this section of lithosphere onto the pacific plate

faulting and extension rate over the last 20 000 years in the offshore whakatane graben new zealand continental shelf oblique rifting in the offshore taupo volcanic zone new zealand is expressed in widely distributed active normal faulting in the 20 km wide whakatane graben active faults are identified along seafloor scarps and displacements of the post last glacial transgressive ravinement surface 400 faults we derive an extension rate at seismogenic depths 6 10 km across the graben of 13 6 mm yr by summing surface measurements assuming an average crustal fault dip of 45 15o and correcting for the discrepancies between surface and deep crustal extension estimates structural and kinematic data implies an extension direction 20o oblique to the rift axis resulting in up to 4 6 2 1 mm yr of dextral motion parallel to the rift axis the strike slip motion is accommodated by dip slip displacements on oblique faults in the centre of the graben and oblique slip faulting along the rift margins pure dip slip in the graben centre represents 50 of the total slip with the rangitaiki fault accommodating 25 of the total extension in the graben

impacts of catastrophic volcanic collapse on the erosion and morphology of a distal fluvial landscape hautapu river mount ruapehu new zealand debris avalanches caused by the collapse of volcanic flanks pose a great risk to inhabited areas and may permanently change the surrounding landscape and its drainage systems in this research we explored the interplay between a debris avalanche and a tectonically uplifting surrounding landscape providing insights into the long term consequences of volcanic edifice failures exposures of coarse volcaniclastic sediments along the hautapu river 50 km southeast of mount ruapehu new zealand show evidence of the largest known collapse event of the stratovolcano which was followed by a vigorous regrowth phase that produced numerous pyroclastic eruptions and pumice rich lahars similar diamicton deposits are exposed within the river catchment adjacent to the west cover bed stratigraphy and geochemical correlation of andesitic lava blocks within the debris avalanche deposit with dated lavas exposed on the cone indicate that deposition occurred between 125 and 150 ka the collapse took place during the shift from a glacial to an interglacial climate when glaciers on the cone were in retreat and high pore water pressures combined with deep hydrothermal alteration weakened the cone in addition collapse may have been accompanied by magmatic unrest the 2 3 km3 debris avalanche inundated an area of 260 km2 and entered the proto hautapu catchment where it was channelized within the deeply entrenched valley mass wasting events associated with postcollapse volcanism continued to be channeled into the proto hautapu river for another 10 k y producing long runout lahars subsequently the river catchment was isolated from the volcano by incision of the intervening whangaehu river into the proximal volcaniclastic sediments accompanied by regional faulting and graben deepening around ruapehu at present the volcaniclastic deposits form a distinctive plateau on the highest topographic elevation within the hautapu valley forming a reversed topography caused by preferred incision of the hautapu river into softer late tertiary sediments concurrent with constant uplift

abrupt increase in greenland snow accumulation at the end of the younger dryas event the warming at the end of the last glaciation was characterized by a series of abrupt returns to glacial climate the best known of which is the younger dryas event1 despite much study of the causes of this event and the mechanisms by which it ended many questions remain unresolved1 oxygen isotope data from greenland ice cores2 4 suggest that the younger dryas ended abruptly over a period of about 50 years dust concentrations2 4 in these cores show an even more rapid transition 20 years this extremely short timescale places severe constraints on the mechanisms underlying the transition but dust concentrations can reflect subtle changes in atmospheric circulation which need not be associated with a large change in climate here we present results from a new greenland ice core gisp2 showing that snow accumulation doubled rapidly from the younger dryas event to the subsequent preboreal interval possibly in one to three years we also find that the accumulation rate change from the oldest dryas to the bo11ing allerod warm period was large and abrupt the extreme rapidity of these changes in a variable that directly represents regional climate implies that the events at the end of the last glaciation may have been responses to some kind of threshold or trigger in the north atlantic climate system

abrupt strike slip fault to subduction transition the alpine fault puysegur trench connection new zealand swath bathymetry and other geophysical data collected over the fiordland margin southwest of new zealand are used to investigate the mechanism of transform subduction transition between the alpine fault and the puysegur trench two segments of the pacific australian plate boundary in this region the cenozoic southeast tasman basin which obliquely underthrusts fiordland at the puysegur trench is separated from the cretaceous tasman basin by the resolution ridge system a major lithospheric discontinuity of the downgoing plate interpretation of seafloor morphology shows that the alpine fault extends offshore along the fiordland coast and splits into west and east branches the west branch cuts obliquely across the margin and connects sharply to the puysegur subduction front at the northeastern tip of the resolution ridge system earthquake and seismic reflection data indicate that the west branch is genetically controlled by downgoing plate structures associated with the resolution ridge system hence the west branch is interpreted as the surface trace of the plate boundary segment extending between the alpine fault and the puysegur trench we conclude that the development of the strike slip segment of the plate boundary and its sharp transition to the puysegur subduction are controlled by inherited structures of the australian plate furthermore according to geophysical data presented here a tearing of the downgoing plate can be interpreted beneath the west branch a review of geophysical data along the region of the alpine fault hikurangi trough northeast new zealand shows a progressive transform subduction transition that is accommodated by motion partitioning between the subduction interface and strike slip faults this transition is accounted for by an interplate coupling that progressively increases toward the alpine fault in relation with a gradual thickening of the downgoing crust the comparison between the fiordland and the hikurangi strike slip subduction transitions show that presence of inherited downgoing plate crustal faults properly oriented with respect to the plate motion facilitates a sharp strike slip subduction transition

thermochronological analysis of the dynamics of the southern alps new zealand the isotopic ages of material exposed close to the alpine fault in the southern alps new zealand vary in a consistent fashion along the orogen for the k ar system muscovite and biotite ages display two distinct spatial trends that meet in the area of fox glacier where a strong relationship is observed between k ar age and altitude excess argon is present in samples between mount kinnaird and haast pass in the southwest of the southern alps giving unrealistically old inconsistent k ar ages across this region incorporation of excess argon appears to be highly variable however and minimization of its influence on dynamical interpretations of thermochronology is possible through considering only the youngest age from a given area such treatment indicates that excess argon contamination does not play an important role in the systematic k ar age variation identified along the southern alps the observed age distribution is consistent with estimates of the modern rapid uplift and exhumation of the southern alps beginning ca 5 ma k ar mica ages older than this south of the copland valley indicate that substantial late cenozoic exhumation occurred along the southern alps prior to the development of the modern tectonic regime but at rates lower than at present total exhumation during the current phase of tectonism in the southern alps decreases from the whataroa river southward north of fox glacier the southern alps have attained a dynamical steady state such that the observed distribution of exhumation will not change significantly with further deformation and denudation under current conditions

a calendar age estimate of the younger dryas holocene boundary at krakenes western norway the younger dryas holocene transition yd h in the sediments of krakenes lake western norway is well marked both lithologically and palaeobiologically at 756 5 cm in the investigated core a ser

large tectonic rotation of part of new zealand in the last 5 ma abstract detailed paleomagnetic data from the wairoa syncline a middle miocene to the present forearc basin on the east coast of the north island new zealand show that the rate of clockwise rotation for the last 5 ma has been 7 8 ma of which less than 1 5 ma can be explained by apparent polar wander due to motion of the australian or pacific plates this rotation is similar to a present day rate of 7 ma determined from geodetic data between 5 and 20 ma ago the rate of tectonic rotation is poorly determined and may be between 0 and 2 ma the change in the rate of rotation of the wairoa syncline around 5 ma is probably related to a markedly different tectonic style in the new zealand region within the last 5 ma associated with a change in position of the euler poles of rotation for the pacific australian plates

the structure of the south fiji basin abstract new magnetic seismic and bathymetric data show that the south fiji basin is a structurally complex marginal basin a gap in the identifiable magnetic anomaly lineations exist over the central part of the basin and prevents the unequivocal linking of the anomaly lineations anomalies 7a to 12 associated with the ridgc ridge ridge triple junction in the north with an apparent single spreading centre of the same age in the south this gap which makes a detailed synthesis of the historical development of the basin difficult may arise from post spreading intraplate tectonics if symmetric spreading is assumed part of the oceanic lithosphere formed during the oligocene episode of seafloor spreading has subsequently been consumed presumably by subduction westward under three kings rise

evolution of macquarie ridge complex seamounts implications for volcanic and tectonic processes at the australia pacific plate boundary south of new zealand abstract the macquarie ridge complex mrc coincides with the australia pacific plate boundary south of new zealand and is characterised by a rugged bathymetry that comprises numerous seamounts along its length tectonic plate reconstructions show that the australia pacific plate boundary evolved from a spreading centre to a transpressional boundary from ca 40 to 6 ma however limited sampling and high resolution mapping of the region have meant that the composition and morphology of the mrc remain relatively unknown here we present results from multibeam mapping photographic investigation and petrologic and geochemical analyses from 10 seamounts along the mrc dredge samples collected from the seamounts are alkaline to sub alkaline basalts containing 45 1 50 8 wt sio2 3 5 12 0 wt mgo and 1 9 4 9 wt total alkalis all samples are enriched mid ocean ridge basalts that have k ti 0 15 which originated as low degree partial melts during the late stages of mid ocean ridge volcanism this oceanic crust has been sheared and accreted along the plate boundary since ca 6 ma by cumulative transpressional relative plate motion such that lavas from distinct magma chambers have been juxtaposed at individual seamounts along the ridge mrc seamounts have formed as discrete elevations as a result of dip slip and strike slip faulting of the ridge axis three guyot type seamounts have flat top summit plateaux that were presumably formed by wave erosion via relative sea level lowering due to uplift of the ridge these seamounts have since subsided due to extension associated with the step over fault geometry of the transform plate boundary along the mcdougall and macquarie ridge segments while the seamounts are of volcanic origin they are manifestations of tectonic and geomorphic processes seamounts distal from the ridge axis however are not subjected to plate boundary deformation and instead have morphologies formed through volcanic processes

influence of cumulative convergence on lithospheric thrust fault development and topography along the australian pacific plate boundary south of new zealand the development of faulting and topography resulting from initial convergence within oceanic lithosphere is largely unknown we explore relationships among convergence structural development and topography along 1500 km of the submarine australian pacific plate boundary south of new zealand the macquarie ridge complex mrc due to the variable orientation of the boundary and close proximity of the australian pacific poles of rotation individual segments of the plate boundary have experienced different convergence histories since 10 95 ma chron 5o because interaction along the oceanic extent of the boundary involves oceanic lithosphere of broadly the same age and therefore thermal structure structural and morphologic differences can be attributed primarily to variations in angles and rates of convergence with respect to the plate boundary orientation since 10 95 ma we relate plate boundary normal convergence determined from stage pole rotations to structural development focusing on transitions from purely strike slip faulting to partitioned thrust and strike slip faulting between 47 s and 60 s since 10 95 ma our results indicate that boundary normal convergence of 100 km marks the transition from strike slip dominated faulting to partitioned underthrusting and strike slip faulting incipient subduction establishment of subduction at the puysegur trench and incipient subduction at the hjort trench corresponds to convergence at rates between 2 and 4 cm yr angles 30 and with durations of at least 10 m y resulting in 100 km of boundary normal convergence anomalous topographic volumes resulting from tectonic deformation are quantified from swath bathymetry and compared to convergence history results from analysis of the central mrc suggest that prior to lithospheric scale thrust faulting 100 km of boundary normal convergence can be accommodated by crustal deformation 6 km relief from ridge crest to adjacent trough and strike slip faulting our research supports induced forced intraoceanic initiation of subduction

cave detection in limestone using ground penetrating radar ground penetrating radar gpr is becoming a more common component of the standard array of geophysical techniques that are used by archaeologists in this paper we report on the use of gpr to survey an area of archaeologically important karst topography at kitley caves in devon u k we describe the use of gpr to detect voids within a limestone outcrop as an aid to locating cave systems which might contain sediments suitable for excavation the performance of the gpr equipment is analysed and the results compared to those obtained with an electrical resistance survey carried out at the same location in particular the depth of penetration of the gpr is estimated and we report discernible echo signals from a much greater depth than is usually reported in archaeological applications of gpr

deglacial changes in ocean circulation from an extended radiocarbon calibration temporal variations in the atmospheric concentration of radiocarbon sometimes result in radiocarbon based age estimates of biogenic material that do not agree with true calendar age this problem is particularly severe beyond the limit of the high resolution radiocarbon calibration based on tree ring data which stretches back only to1 2 about 11 8 kyr before present bp near the termination of the younger dryas cold period if a wide range of palaeoclimate records are to be exploited for better understanding the rates and patterns of environmental change during the last deglaciation extending the well calibrated radiocarbon timescale back further in time is crucial several studies attempting such an extension using uranium thorium dated corals3 4 5 and laminae counts in varved sediments6 7 8 9 show conflicting results here we use radiocarbon data from varved sediments in the cariaco basin in the southern caribbean sea to construct an accurate and continuous radiocarbon calibration for the period 9 to 14 5 kyr bp nearly 3 000 years beyond the tree ring based calibration a simple model compared to the calculated atmospheric radiocarbon concentration and palaeoclimate data from the same sediment core suggests that north atlantic deep water formation shut down during the younger dryas period but was gradually replaced by an alternative mode of convection possibly via the formation of north atlantic intermediate water

crustal heterogeneity and subduction processes 3 d vp vp vs and q in the southern north island new zealand summary along the southern hikurangi subduction zone in the southern north island new zealand the subduction zone changes from volcanic with moderately weak interseismic coupling to non volcanic with strong coupling in wellington to investigate how material heterogeneity relates to subduction processes we compute 3 d seismic properties using 342 earthquakes and 2 shots recorded by a 165 station seismic array the time base for some telemetered temporary stations was not stable which required revising the inversion code to allow an additional origin time related to the telemetered stations progressive inversions from 2 d to fine 3 d were carried out for vp vp vs and qp combined interpretation of these three seismic properties highlights features of the subduction zone the subducted slab is imaged as a high velocity high q feature in the overlying crust from southeast to northwest there is low velocity in the accretionary wedge high velocity in the axial ranges and low velocity in the wanganui basin high vp vs and low qp characterize the crust east of the north island dextral fault belt high vp vs is imaged above the subducted slab to 40 km depth in the northern half of the study area low qp is also prominent above the slab particularly trenchwards of the volcanic region in marked contrast to the high vp vs the low qp above the slab extends as a continuous feature up to the low qp in the shallow crust underlying the volcanic region the low qp and high vp vs are correlated with the region of weaker coupling and are consistent with significant subducted sediments with associated fluid release vp vs is particularly sensitive to overpressured fluid in the compressional forearc whereas qp also images the hydrostatically pressured fluid transport in the more permeable extensional volcanic region the rheology of the lower crust of the overlying plate is a factor in large scale subduction coupling as evidenced by the terrane boundaries and haast schist in the section near wellington the changing rheology of the lower crust of the overlying plate in the southern north island also provides a possible explanation for the southward cessation of volcanism

morphostructure of an incipient subduction zone along a transform plate boundary puysegur ridge and trench multibeam bathymetric and geophysical data reveal a major strike slip fault that extends along the summit of the puysegur ridge east of the puysegur trench the northward structural development of this ridge trench system illustrates the evolution of an incipient subduction zone along a transform plate boundary that has been subjected to increasing transverse shortening during the past 10 m y at the southern end of the trench where subduction has not yet started the puysegur ridge has a narrow 50 km steep sided cross section and the axial strike slip fault separates a shallow 125 625 m flat topped eastern crest from a deeper 400 1600 m western crest these characteristics indicate differential uplift during the initial stage of shortening on the lower plate an incipient 5 2 km deep trench developed in conjunction with normal and reverse faults suggesting strong interplate coupling across the trench northward the ridge broadens linearly to 80 km wide its western flank has locally collapsed and the ridge summit has subsided possibly by 1 5 km suggesting that the interplate coupling decreases and that a benioff zone is being formed concomitant to the northward ridge evolution the trench deepens to 6 2 km and normal fault throws increase along its outer wall indicating greater flexure of the downgoing plate

late pleistocene and holocene small and large mammal faunas from the northern urals data from the mammal fauna of the north urals during the late pleistocene and holocene are synthesised analysis of differentiation the degree of small and large mammal faunas during this time has been undertaken only differences of mammal species composition were significant between the late pleistocene and holocene complexes and within these complexes the distinction between faunas was insignificant the transition from the late pleistocene to the holocene complex small mammal faunas occurred in the middle late valdai due to expansion of the forest species in large mammal faunas the process was recorded later in dryas 3 early holocene because of the extinction of some species and others that changed their areas of occupation

noble gases in mafic phenocrysts and xenoliths from new zealand we have determined the elemental and isotopic compositions of noble gases in young subduction related phenocrystic olivine and clinopyroxene samples from the taupo volcanic zone central north island new zealand and in behind arc intraplate phenocrystic and xenolithic olivine samples from the northland and auckland volcanic provinces northern north island new zealand helium isotopic ratios range from morb like 3he4he values of about 11 10 6 to lower values of about 6 10 6 consistent with previous measurements of helium isotopic ratios in subduction related samples 40ar36ar and 21ne22ne ratios range from atmosphere like compositions to maximum values of about 700 and 0 033 respectively in contrast most of the 21ne22neratios are generally indistinguishable from atmospheric values the variations in helium neon and argon isotopic ratios are interpreted as resulting from mixing of 1 a a primordial 3he rich component derived from the upper mantle and characterised by morb like 3he4he ratios of about 12 10 6 2 b a radiogenic 4he rich component derived from crustal materials and characterised by a 3he4he ratio of less than 2 10 7 and 3 c a helium poor atmosphere derived component which dominates the heavier noble gases by combining the helium and argon isotopic results it is possible to estimate the relative contribution of each of these three components to the total 40ar observed in each sample based on the present understanding of the origin and evolution of arc magmas a simple qualitative model of the mechanisms which introduce noble gases to the parent magmas of the samples is developed however it remains uncertain whether the atmospheric and crustal derived noble gas components are introduced to the mantle source regions of the magmas by subduction or alternatively are introduced by interactions between the ascending parent magmas and the overlying crust

sedimentary architecture of a plio pleistocene proto back arc basin wanganui basin new zealand the sedimentary architecture of active margin basins including back arc basins is known only from a few end members that barely illustrate the natural diversity of such basins documenting more of these basins types is the key to refining our understanding of the tectonic evolution of continental margins this paper documents the sedimentary architecture of an incipient back arc basin 200 km behind the active hikurangi subduction margin north island new zealand the wanganui basin wb is a rapidly subsiding plio pleistocene sedimentary basin located at the southern termination of the extensional back arc basin of the active central volcanic region tvz the wb is asymmetric with a steep thrust faulted outer arc ward margin and a gentle inner craton ward margin it contains a 4 km thick succession of plio pleistocene sediments mostly lying offshore composed of shelf platform sediments it lacks the late molasse like deposits derived from erosion of a subaerial volcanic arc and basement observed in classical back arc basins detailed seismic stratigraphic interpretations from an extensive offshore seismic reflection data grid show that the sediment fill comprises two basin scale mega sequences 1 a pliocene 3 8 to 1 35 ma sub parallel regressive bpre growthq sequence that overtops the uplifted cratonward margin above the reverse taranaki fault and 2 a pleistocene 1 35 ma to present divergent transgressive bsyn growthq sequence that onlaps i the craton ward high to the west and ii uplifted basement blocks associated with the high angle reverse faults of the arc ward margin to the east along strike the sediments offlap first progressively southward mega sequence 1 and then southeastward mega sequence 2 with sediment transport funnelled between the craton and arc ward highs towards the hikurangi trough through the cook strait the change in offlap direction corresponds to the onset of arc ward thrust faulting and the rise of the axial ranges at ca 1 75 ma resulting in 5100 5700 m of differential subsidence across the fault system sedimentation has propagated south to southeast ward over the last 4 myrs at the tip of successive back arc graben volcanic arcs and the associated thermally uplifted parts of the north island following the southward migration of the hikurangi subduction margin subsidence occurred by mantle flow driven flexure the result of active down drag of the lithosphere by locking of the hikurangi subduction interface and sediment loading the wb is considered to be a proto back arc basin that represents the intermediate stage of evolution of an epicratonic shelf platform impacted by active margin processes

the abrupt termination of the younger dryas climate event previous studies on two deep greenland ice cores have shown that a long series of climate oscillations characterized the late weichselian glaciation in the north atlantic region1 and that the last glacial cold period the younger dryas ended abruptly 10 700 years ago2 here we further focus on this epoch defining event and present detailed heavy isotope and dust concentration profiles which suggest that in less than 20 years the climate in the north atlantic region turned into a milder and less stormy regime as a consequence of a rapid retreat of the sea ice cover a warming of 7 c in south greenland was completed in about 50 years

mode of crustal shortening adjacent to the alpine fault new zealand the late cenozoic episode of crustal shortening in the south island new zealand which has caused present day uplift rates of greater than 10 mm yr and has formed the southern alps may have also caused clockwise rotation of the alpine fault by up to 20 in contrast to the northern end of the alpine fault which appears to have remained fixed relative to the australian plate increasing westward movement of the fault trace has occurred southward along the fault this westward movement may exceed 100 km where the fault crosses the coastline in northern fiordland most shortening adjacent to the southern end of the alpine fault has occurred within australian plate continental crust which has been thrust beneath pacific plate continental crust this zone of continental underthrusting merges with the fiordland subduction zone further south where australian plate oceanic crust is being subducted gravity modelling of the continental collision zone beneath the southern alps indicates that the leading edge of underthrust australian plate crust may be close to a relatively sharp 10 km change in moho depth inward dipping thrust faults on both plates mark the outer limits of the collision zone which is over 300 km wide near the southern end of the alpine fault the probable increase in crustal thickness due to the late cenozoic shortening suggests that the amount of crustal thickening is similar in size to the amount of eroded crust

subduction zone retreat and recent tectonics of the south island of new zealand the central south island of new zealand is a zone of recent oblique continent continent convergence between the australian and pacific plates convergence is localized on the alpine fault and its broader expression has created the southern alps we propose that many of the strike variations in orogenic style of this zone e g physical extent and style of crustal shortening argon release patterns and fission track observations can be explained by differential amounts of subduction zone retreat beneath the orogen the observed patterns suggest greater eastward retreat of the subducting pacific plate in the south than in the north to support this hypothesis we compare geodynamic models having varying amounts of subduction zone retreat with geological and geophysical observations incorporating subduction zone retreat not only creates tectonic variations similar to those observed but also provides a geodynamically consistent explanation for the size shape and location of the broad negative bouguer gravity anomaly associated with the orogen in addition these geodynamic models suggest that subduction zone retreat may result in local topographic lows which may serve as preferential locations for the formation of intermontane basins and associated lakes possibly explaining the chain of south island lakes our preferred interpretation of the geologic history of the central south island convergence has an initial phase of pacific plate lower crust and mantle subduction underthrusting with no retreat followed by a second phase of subduction zone retreat in the southern part of the zone this retreat may be a consequence of oblique convergence which creates interference beneath fiordland between the south east dipping australian plate and the underthrust west dipping pacific plate to the north and forces retreat

can carbon 13 in large herbivores reflect the canopy effect in temperate and boreal ecosystems evidence from modern and ancient ungulates abstract local environmental conditions under dense canopy are known to result in depletion in 13c abundance in plants compared to an open land context this canopy effect has been observed in tropical as well as in mid latitude forest ecosystems however the impact of the canopy effect on tissue 13c abundance of temperate and boreal forest dwelling herbivores has not been thoroughly explored nevertheless the canopy effect has been suggested to explain a decrease of about 3 in collagen 13c values in ancient large herbivores from western europe during the forest expansion of the late glacial early holocene period ca 15 000 6000 cal bp some papers have considered the 13c decrease in large herbivore as the main result of global change in atmospheric co2 content a detailed review of 13c values of large herbivores reindeer red deer roe deer and bison from open and closed environments from high and mid latitudes confirm that the canopy effect observed in plants is passed on to their consumers in the paris basin the decline in 13c values of large herbivores at the late glacial early holocene transition around 10 000 years bp appears to be different according to the considered species namely red deer roe deer and large bovines bison and aurochs moreover differences in the pattern of decrease in 13c values are observed in red deer between french northern alps and french jura these differences among species in their isotopic response through time for a given geographical location and within species from different locations suggest variance in ecological responses of species that are associated with the relative use of forested habitat as a result 13c abundances in collagen can be considered as a direct tracker of the degree of closure of the habitat of ancient herbivores

bending within the axial tectonic belt of new zealand in the last 9 myr from paleomagnetic data abstract tongaporutuan stage late miocene 11 6 myr sedimentary rocks at two localities within the axial tectonic belt of new zealand have a direction of magnetisation in which the declination is 020 11 and 030 8 d 95 the directions of magnetisation in rocks of similar age outside the belt have a declination like that of the earth s present axial dipole 360 the clockwise deviation of the declination is inferred to indicate bending of the rocks within the zone of deformation between the pacific and indian plates due to the oblique convergence of these plates

erosion and exhumation in accretionary orogens experimental and geological approaches 1 this study examines the role of erosion on exhumation and deformation history of accretionary orogens through experimental and geological methods fault propagation kinematics and exhumation rates in an eroded thrust wedge are analyzed through scaled sandbox simulations by testing different parameters friction rheologic layering and sediment input output ratio a model coulomb wedge is submitted to erosion under flux steady state conditions that is the volume of eroded material remains equal to the volume of newly accreted material maintaining a constant surface slope during shortening results show that the way of exhumation depends on the internal dynamics of thrust wedges and conversely on how this dynamics is modified by erosion in the eroded thrust wedges the diversity of exhumation patterns is controlled by the mode of fault propagation depending on the basal friction high or low the vertical component of exhumation is generally higher for the wedges with high basal friction than for low friction wedges the uplift of material occurs along a cluster of subvertical thrusts in the middle part of the eroded thrust wedge with low basal friction the material is exhumed along a series of inclined 20 50 thrusts in the rear of the high friction wedge the zone of maximum exhumation is generally localized in the middle part of the thrust wedge and migrates toward the backstop with continued shortening the vertical exhumation rate increases with time and the material accreted later is rapidly transferred to the main exhumation zone compared to the material accreted during the early stages the exhumation occurs at rates 2 times faster in the wedges with half the thickness than in full thickness wedges the total quantity of eroded material at the end of convergence constitutes 36 50 of initial model area for the thrust wedges with low basal friction and 20 40 for the high basal friction wedges the extent of basal underplating increases with total shortening the area of basal underplated material constitutes up to 30 and 40 of the eroded thrust wedge area for the models with low and high basal friction respectively presence of decollements in the accreted series allows underplating of thrust units developing an anticlinal stack whose growth and location is favored by erosion our results are compared to different present day active and ancient convergent orogens himalaya taiwan southern alps of new zealand and cascadia orogen allowing the different specific exhumation processes to be characterized

the tectonic evolution of the southern alps new zealand insights from fully thermally coupled dynamical modelling summary we present here the results of numerical models of the southern alps in which the thermal and dynamical developments of the orogen are fully coupled to one another this interlinkage allows the use of a wide range of thermal and physical features of the orogen as constraints on the applicability of our models in particular the thermal aspect of this method enables the prediction of the distribution of thermochronological ages at the surface of the model perturbation of the geothermal structure due to rapid uplift and exhumation causes an intrinsic weakening and concentration of strain along the equivalent of the alpine fault zone in these models this thermal weakening of the crust also produces a zone of high strain antithetic to the alpine fault in the upper crust that is comparable to the main divide fault zone within the southern alps the introduction of orographic rainfall and erosional processes into the model leads to the development of high asymmetric topography comparable to that of the southern alps this topographic profile results from the capture of available precipitation by the windward side of the orogen and the resultant rain shadow on the leeward side due to the time required to accumulate suycient topography for this rain capture evect to become significant the establishment of this high asymmetric topography lags the initiation of surface uplift by several million years comparison of the observed thermal history of the southern alps with that seen in models based on divering hypotheses of the tectonic evolution of the south island shows that the present tectonic regime of the orogen most probably developed in a single rapid reorganization of plate motions at approximately 5 ma with relative stability of the tectonic regime since that time the variation in isotopic ages along the southern alps is consistent with that expected from variation in accumulated uplift and exhumation along the orogen arising from the obliquity of convergence of the australian and pacific plates

reconstructions of the new zealand region for the neogene abstract the major structural elements of the present day plate boundary zone through new zealand are a subduction zone under the northern half of the country linked by a wide transform zone to the southward extension of the plate boundary through fiordland and the macquarie ridge using finite rotations of the pacific australian plate pair a sequence of reconstructions of the relative positions of the plates is presented reconstructions of the plate boundary zone based on paleomagnetic data involve essentially the same structural elements as today but with large clockwise changes in their trend with time

paleomagnetic constraints on cenozoic deformation along the northwest margin of the pacific australian plate boundary zone through new zealand 1 new zealand straddles the boundary between the australian and pacific plates a zone of oblique continental convergence and transform motion the actively deforming region offers a unique opportunity to study the dynamics of deformation including vertical axis rotation of rigid blocks within a transcurrent plate boundary zone we present and interpret paleomagnetic data from three new and three previously published sites from the nw part of the south island nw nelson region where sedimentary strata dated between 36 and 10 ma overlie the crystalline paleozoic basement assemblages of the gondwana margin compared with reference directions from the australian apparent polar wander path none of the results provide evidence of post eocene vertical axis rotation this suggests that for the past 36 myr nw nelson has remained a strong coherent block that has moved as a contiguous part of the australian plate this is in marked contrast to the strongly rotated nature of more outboard accreted terranes to the east for example the hikurangi margin in the north island nw of the alpine fault and the marlborough region in the ne of the south island se of the alpine fault have both undergone diverse clockwise rotations of up to 140 since the early paleogene the nw tip of the south island seems to have acted as a rigid backstop relative to these more complex oroclinal deformations we infer that because of its relatively stiff bulk rheology it has not been drawn into the distributed plate boundary rotational deformation associated with the new zealand orocline

synchronized terrestrial atmospheric deglacial records around the north atlantic on the basis of synchronization of three carbon 14 c 14 dated lacustrine sequences from sweden with tree ring and ice core records the absolute age of the younger dryas preboreal climatic shift was determined to be 11 450 to 11 390 80 years before the present a 150 year long cooling in the early preboreal associated with rising delta 14 c values is evident in all records and indicates an ocean ventilation change this cooling is similar to earlier deglacial coolings and box model calculations suggest that they all may have been the result of increased freshwater forcing that inhibited the strength of the north atlantic heat conveyor although the younger dryas may have begun as an anomalous meltwater event

subduction platform subsidence and foreland thrust loading the late tertiary development of taranaki basin new zealand borehole seismic and gravity data are used to investigate deformation of continental lithosphere at a miocene collisional zone deformation is manifested in the three following principal forms a long wavelength 500 km platform subsidence ascribed to mantle convection flexural deformation on a scale of 100 200 km due to crustal thrusting at the eastern boundary of the taranaki basin and a ductile thickening evident on the deep seismic section of taranaki basin that occurs on a scale of 10 km evidence for flexural deformation principally comes from the deep seismic section that shows a 150 km wavelength bending of the moho down toward the major zone of thrusting within the taranaki fault zone paleowater depths however provide evidence for an initial early miocene regional subsidence that is too long in wavelength to be explained by flexure induced from thrust sheet loading instead we propose that this broad platform subsidence was driven by loading from a deep source probably subduction induced flow in the mantle by 22 19 ma 1 2 km of water existed over most of the area now occupied by south taranaki basin by 19 17 ma the water depth in the zone east of the taranaki basin the taranaki fault zone had been replaced by rock due to submarine thrusting and crustal thickening this build up of submarine topography in the taranaki fault zone constitutes part of the load 25 8 mpa that created and maintains south taranaki basin gravity data place further constraints on loading at the thrust front and point to an additional intracrustal loading equivalent to 15 7 mpa over a 50 km wide zone this intracrustal load is explained as being due to thick skinned thrusting bringing denser lower crustal rocks nearer to the surface in the thrust zone the complete load on the taranaki foreland is therefore in three parts the submarine topographic load the intracrustal load and the loading of infilling sediments

age and origin of the new zealand orocline in relation to alpine fault movement the alpine fault and the recurved arc structures orocline in the late palaeozoic mesozoic rangitata orogen are two of the first order structures of the new zealand subcontinent a commonly held view is that the orocline originated as a gigantic drag fold with alpine fault movement in view of the post oligocene age of the alpine fault however this concept involving a single recurved arc cannot reconcile the two published sets of palaeomagnetic data on tectonic rotations within the rangitata orogen and its cover rocks these data indicate at least 62 of dextral rotation during each of the mesozoic rangitata orogeny and the late cenozoic kaikoura orogeny a new model presented here postulates that there are actually two dextral recurved arcs a western arc which lies mainly outside the australia pacific plate boundary zone has a multiple origin having formed chiefly during the late triassic phase of the rangitata orogeny by the subduction accretion of the exotic rakaia terrane an eastern arc coincides with the area of the present plate boundary zone it formed as a mega brittle ductile shear zone with the late cenozoic development of the modern australia pacific plate boundary which includes the alpine fault this solves the problem of the nature and location north of the alpine fault of the relative plate movement evident as 480 km of displacement on the alpine fault a major implication of this model for plate tectonic reconstruc tions of the sw pacific is that only approximately 500 km of dextral displacement has occurred through new zealand during the late cretaceous cenozoic compared with the commonly adopted figure of 1000 km

new insight into the dynamic development of the southern alps new zealand from detailed thermochronological investigation of the mataketake range pegmatites

up dip partitioning of displacement components on the oblique slip clarence fault new zealand abstract active strike slip faults in new zealand occur within an obliquely convergent plate boundary zone although the traces of these faults commonly delineate the base of mountain ranges they do not always accommodate significant shortening at the free surface along the active trace of clarence fault in northeastern south island new zealand displaced landforms and slickenside striations indicate predominantly horizontal displacements at the ground surface and a right lateral slip rate of ca 3 5 5 mm year during the holocene the inland kaikoura mountain range occupies the hanging wall of the fault and rises steeply from the active trace to altitudes of ca 3 km the geomorphology of the range indicates active uplift and mountain building which is interpreted to result in part from a vertical component of fault slip at depth these data are consistent with the fault accommodating oblique slip at depth aligned parallel to the plate motion vector and compatible with regional geodetic data and earthquake focal mechanisms oblique slip on the clarence fault at depth is partitioned at the free surface into 1 right lateral displacement on the fault and 2 hanging wall uplift produced by distributed displacement on small scale faults parallel to the main fault decoupling of slip components reflects an up dip transfer of fault throw to an off fault zone of distributed uplift such zones are common in the hanging walls of thrusts and reverse faults and support the idea that the dip of the oblique slip clarence fault steepens towards the free surface

cenozoic tectonic evolution of the new zealand plate boundary zone a paleomagnetic perspective abstract new zealand straddles the obliquely convergent boundary between the pacific and australian plates with subduction of pacific plate along the hikurangi margin finite plate reconstructions predict 800 km of relative plate motion since 43 ma with 80 90 clockwise rotation of the hikurangi margin since 20 ma at an average rate of 4 4 5 myr and the short term deformation

temporal variations in latest quaternary slip across the australian pacific plate boundary northeastern south island new zealand rates of latest quaternary slip from stream terraces and moraines displaced by faults of the alpine shear system in ne south island new zealand vary in space and time detailed histories of fault slip are obtained from combining displacement data with estimates of the age of the surface from weathering characteristics precision in surface ages is 5 20 using rock weathering rinds and 15 50 using soil properties the oldest surfaces examined are 15 20 ka and have right lateral fault offsets up to 400 600 m the main faults of the in the ne south island the wairau awatere clarence hope kekerengu and porters pass faults have average latest quaternary right lateral slip rates of 3 10 5 10 7 10 25 40 5 7 and 3 4 mm yr respectively every fault has undergone a substantial decrease in lateral slip rate in the last 3 5 kyr summed across the plate boundary the average latest quaternary slip rates are comparable to long term rates of horizontal slip across the australian pacific plate boundary around 40 mm yr parallel to the boundary and rates of geodetic strain and seismic moment release over the last 50 100 years approximately the same however sums of lateral fault slip rates over the interval from 15 to 5 ka exceed the plate motions whereas late holocene lateral fault slip rates are less than half the long term average the best explanation of these variations is slip across the plate boundary is episodic varying over perhaps 5 kyr intervals this implies that 15 20 kyr is the time interval necessary to average out shorter 5 kyr episodic variations in plate boundary motions

the nature and timing of faunal change in the british isles across the pleistocene holocene transition the abrupt change in climate during the last deglaciation is reflected in the british isles by a transition from periglacial to temperate faunas in contrast to the coleopteran record terrestrial

pliocene exhumation and landscape evolution of central north island new zealand the role of the upper mantle 1 mudstone porosity analyses show that over 2 km of exhumation has occurred in central north island new zealand since 5 ma this combined with a coeval surface uplift of 500 m indicates a maximum 2 5 km of rock uplift in central north island the magnitude and wavelength 400 km of the rock uplift is similar to some topographic doming observed in continental areas associated with mantle upwelling yet central north island is recognized as a region of back arc extension marine terraces 100 150 km from the center of maximum exhumation show uplift rates of 0 2 0 3 mm yr 1 consistent with about 1 km of exhumation if averaged over 4 5 myr which compares well with mudstone porosity analyses seismic attenuation and slow pn velocities indicate that a thermal anomaly in the upper mantle is the source of this rock uplift the rock uplift may be explained by the replacement of a 100 km thick mantle lid by asthenosphere with a density 66 kg m 3 less than the lid about half this density contrast can be explained by thermal expansion and the rest is ascribed to partial melts in the upper mantle southward migration for the locus of maximum rock uplift is consistent with the zone of maximum incision erosion being 50 km south of the southernmost volcano such a migration is in keeping with other geological markers of volcanic and thermal phenomena and further strengthens the link of landscape evolution at active continental margins with processes in the mantle

a model of the cenozoic evolution of northern new zealand and adjacent areas of the southwest pacific abstract new information from the southwest pacific indicates that earlier attempts at formulating the evolution of the area assuming a single upper cenozoic magmatic arc are untenable it now appears that there were two arcs during the miocene and pliocene a western northland three kings rise arc and an eastern tonga lau kermadec colville arc both appear to have developed above west dipping subduction zones it is suggested that the norfolk and reinga basins formed as back arc basins to the western arc and that eastern north island lay adjacent to northland and formed the accretionary prism to that arc upper cenozoic evolution of the region involved the simultaneous opening of the norfolk reinga basins consumption of the western portion of the oligocene south fiji basin by subduction beneath the western arc and eastwards movement of new zealand three kings rise towards the tonga kermadec arc when the kermadec and hikurangi trenches came into line late in the pliocene the tonga kermadec arc was able to propagate rapidly southwards into north island simultaneously the western arc became extinct and the tectonic tempo and strike slip faulting accelerated markedly throughout new zealand eastern north island was moved dextrally an uncertain distance relative to the western north island and rotated 25 30 clockwise this accounts for the paradox of a 22 m y old accretionary margin lying adjacent to a 2 m y old arc taupo volcanic zone at the present day

a formal mammalian biostratigraphy for the late pleistocene of britain abstract a series of distinctive mammalian assemblages spanning much of the british late pleistocene is defined on the basis of type localities and a formal biozonation proposed the joint mitnor cave mammal assemblage zone includes the famous hippopotamus fauna of the early part of the last interglacial complex oxygen isotope substage 5e this is succeeded by the bacon hole mammal assemblage zone in which hippopotamus is no longer present and species like mammoth roe deer and northern vole re enter the british region this assemblage zone appears to represent the later substages of ois 5 a faunal grouping dominated by bison and reindeer is named the banwell bone cave mammal assemblage zone and is believed to correlate closely with the early devensian ois 4 the pin hole mammal assemblage zone includes the familiar mammoth steppe faunas of the middle devensian ois 3 dominated by horse woolly rhinoceros and mammoth the lateglacial interstadial is characterized by the gough s cave mammal assemblage zone in which horse red deer and humans are well represented part of ois 2 no definitive evidence for human activity can be found for a period spanning the last interglacial complex ois 5 and the early devensian ois 4 human populations return to britain with the pin hole mammal assemblage zone fauna during the middle devensian ois 3 and reappear after the dimlington stadial during the late devensian ois 2 but in a different faunal association

the opening of cook strait interglacial tidal scour and aligning basins at a subduction to transform plate edge abstract cook strait the central seaway through the axial ranges of new zealand has many inferred origins a compilation of marine geological and geophysical datasets suggests that cook strait developed when five sedimentary basins at a rapidly changing obliquely convergent plate boundary were moved into line and were linked by strong tidal scour in middle pleistocene times the basins relate partly to oblique subduction north of cook strait and partly to intercontinental transform to the south prior to opening muddy subduction pull down and foreland basins in the northwest were separated from equally quiet water rotating forearc to transform basins in the southeast the land barrier between them narrowed and was finally breached as subduction related basins migrated southwards and transform related basins extended northwards in response to rotation and divergent branching of a major transcurrent fault following breaching a history of alternating scour and quiet water deposition is recorded by a series of deep irregular unconformities in muddy basin fill scour is correlated with interglacial periods of high sea level when land barriers were submerged and strong tides caused by a 140 phase difference at either end of the strait eroded muddy sediments deposited in glacial periods when an emergent landbridge limited tidal exchange

the kinematics of the plate boundary zone through new zealand a comparison of short and long term deformations summary surveys of shear strain rates derived from repeated triangulation cover about one quarter of the area of the plate boundary zone through new zealand and are well distributed within it using a method developed by haines relating shear strains to the total strain and velocity fields the dilatational and rotational strain rates and the velocities within the deformed zone are derived the plate boundary zone is shown to be two dimensional for the most part in that gradients of the velocity along the length of the zone are small or zero the shear strain rates are not uniform however they reach a maximum along a central axis and decrease gradually to zero toward the sides nor are the two independent components of strain one involving shortening or extension perpendicular and the other shear parallel to the zone equally developed everywhere there is a clear geographic separation with shortening developed over the subduction thrust and shear developed behind in a zone of wrench faulting time variations in the strain field in part of the region above the subduction interface are related to changes in the degree of coupling across the interface a velocity field is computed the relative velocity of the two plates from this data agree very well with that derived from seafloor spreading data these strain and velocity fields derived from geodetic studies give the short term kinematics of the plate boundary zone the long term kinematics of the zone are estimated from 1 uplift and subsidence data which are related to changes in crustal thickness and hence to dilatational strain and 2 variation in the declination of primary magnetization in rocks of known age related to the rotational strain the rate of rotational strain has increased in time from about 2 to 3 myr 1 10 myr ago to about 9 myr 1 today the increase can be understood as a secondary effect of a developing compressional component increasing the coupling between the plates so that more of the motion parallel to the zone is accommodated by distributed shear and less by aseismic slip the rates of strain averaged over the last 1 myr or so and at a scale length of a few tens of kilometres are closely similar in distribution and magnitude to the strain rates derived from short term kinematics while therefore at scale lengths of a few hundred metres or so faulting is very important and the deformation is discontinuous with unstrained blocks faulted with large but uncertain slip against adjacent blocks the deformation at these longer scale lengths is continuous and regular the two consequences of this study are that 1 strain from geodetic data can be directly related to the average long term deformation and therefore can be an important tool in the study of deformation in regions of current tectonic activity and 2 at scale lengths of a few tens of kilometres the deformation of a region can be described as the deformation of a continuum and we can ignore the effects of faulting

evidence against natural deformation of fluid inclusions in diagenetic quartz abstract this paper describes evidence for and against burial induced deformation of fluid inclusions in diagenetic quartz fluid inclusions in diagenetic minerals are prone to non elastic deformation stretching or leakage if subjected to progressive burial in a sedimentary basin if they deform they cannot record mineral growth conditions correctly a correlation between homogenization temperature and depth may be interpreted as indicating wholesale leakage or stretching experimental work and theoretical studies suggest that heating 200 c higher than the homogenization temperature is required to produce significant deformation but it may not be possible to extend the results to natural conditions the experiments further predict a correlation between homogenization temperature and inclusion size in a sample of inclusions that have undergone natural deformation this is not observed in natural examples but the absence of a correlation is not proof that leakage has not occurred several features of inclusion data in quartz cements do however argue against stretching or leakage homogenization temperatures commonly show narrow distributions and are compatible with independent data such as illite potassium argon ages and petrography different generations of inclusions in a single sample set also retain homogenization temperature distributions compatible with their sequential origin taken as a whole the body of evidence argues against widespread stretching or leakage of fluid inclusions in diagenetic quartz

the influence of australasian antarctic plate tectonics and palaeoceanographic development on the morphology and inferred life habits of new zealand neogene brachiopods abstract significant changes in the taxonomic composition of new zealand brachipod faunas occurred in the late oligocene following continuing divergent plate movement between australia and antarctica and the initiation of the present southern ocean circulation pattern early miocene brachiopod faunas are dominated by polymorphic assemblages of large terebratellids assigned by thomson 1926 to the genera rhizothyris and pachymagas pioneer species of both genera are first recognmisable but not dominant in middle late oligocene brachipod assembalges both genera are not know to occur in new zealand rocks younger than late miocene other locally significant miocene taxa include the genera magadina and neobouchardia through the work of j r richardson and co workers on living magadinella from australia it is now recognised that rhizothyris magadina and neobouchardia while clearly differentiated on characteristics of the loop and cardinalia display certain gross morphological similarities suggestive free living mode of life with the ability to cope with mobile substrates such morphological similarities are however superfacial and indicative of convergent evolution whereas magadina and neobouchardia can be linked to quite independent pre cenezoic ancestral stocks rhizothyris is likely to have evolved from the genus stethothyris no earlier than early middle oligocene times the sudden appearance and the rapid radiation of the various unrelated stocks at the end of the paleogene may have occurred as a result of new regionally intense circulation patterns associated with the establishment of antarctic glaciation during the late miocene and pliocene there was a progressive drop in seawater temperature a combination of rapid uplift and subsidence reflecting a change from predominantly transcurrent to convergent plate movement along the length of the alpine fault in new zealand led to a drastic reduction in the areal extent of the kinds of shallow marine shelf environments earlier colonised by brachiopods as a consequence records of late miocene to pliocene brachiopods from the new zealand mainland are sparse

ridge reorientation mechanisms macquarie ridge complex australia pacific plate boundary the macquarie ridge complex portion of the australia pacific plate boundary south of new zealand provides a unique complete record of a 60 90 change in spreading direction since 40 ma that resulted in the transition from a spreading center to a transform plate boundary marine geophysical data show that during reorientation most ridge segments completely disappeared and all shortened additionally modification of newly created crust caused differences in widths of correlative spreading segment corridors on the two plates we propose two models for ridge reorientation that explain the observed spreading fabric and arcuate fracture zone relationships nonrigid plate deformation was accommodated by failing and propagating spreading ridge segments rifts and transfer of crust between plates during the gradual reorientation of the spreading axes

the irish quaternary fauna project abstract much of ireland s pleistocene and early holocene mammalian faunas are derived from a series of late 19th early 20th century cave excavations in many instances it would appear that the deposits containing these faunal remains were disturbed this project assessed the chronological range of the mammalian species present in the caves using 14 c dating in particular accelerator mass spectrometry ams the research has shown that 1 a wide range of mammals colonised ireland in the period between at least 45 ka and 20 ka with some elements surviving until close to the last glacial maximum 2 a more restricted range of species re colonised ireland during the lateglacial period with evidence for a slightly more temperature fauna being replaced by an arctic fauna at about 11 ka 3 certain elements of ireland s holocene fauna may have survived through from the lateglacial into the holocene 4 there is a lack of evidence for red deer cervus elaphus being present in the early holocene in ireland and 5 horse is only documented in the irish holocene from 4 ka the paper also discusses the implications of the quaternary fauna project for the late pleistocene of ireland the mechanism and period of colonisation of ireland as well as the introduction of domesticates in the mid holocene

the last 25 ma of rotational deformation in part of the new zealand plate boundary zone abstract the marlborough fault system is a zone of dextral transpression in continental crust and marks the southern end of the hikurangi subduction system between the obliquely convergent australian and pacific plates detailed mapping over an area of 100 km2 has revealed a complex history of deformation during the last 25 ma the development of a thrust belt in the miocene referred to as d1 deformation was synchronous with the deposition of a thick submarine fan complex the beginning of d1 deformation may mark the initiation of the subduction zone in this part of the plate boundary zone subsequently in the plio pleistocene the region formed a zone of dextral shear marked by major strike slip faults and zones of distributed deformation referred to as d2 deformation crustal blocks less than 5 km across may have rotated ca 60 clockwise about vertical axes relative to the pacific plate in the last 4 ma the pattern of deformation during the last 10 ka to 100 years is consistent with the long term d2 deformation and suggests that large crustal blocks resting on the subducted pacific plate have rotated clockwise about vertical axes relative to the pacific plate accommodated by dextral shear further to the sw in the marlborough fault system the overall effect of the deformation has been the rotation of the edge of the southern part of the hikurangi margin from a w to nw trend in the early miocene to a ne trend today

neogene evolution of lower trench slope basins and wedge development in the central hikurangi subduction margin new zealand detailed analysis of the stratigraphic architecture and deformation of lower trench slope sedimentary basins permits the tectonic evolution of subduction margins to be constrained this study utilises offshore seismic reflection profiles and onshore outcrop data to examine the entire lower trench slope of the hikurangi subduction margin in the eastern north island new zealand our results constrain the main spatial and temporal changes of facies and sedimentary units since about 25 ma we demonstrate that the geometries and locations of miocene to quaternary sedimentary basins are controlled by tectonic activity and reflect stages of subduction wedge development four types of sedimentary basins have been recognized 1 flysch basins with local olistostromes at the front of seaward propagating thrust sheets 2 5 10 km wide turbidite rich trench slope basins between uplifting structural ridges i e anticlines associated with shortening within 100 km of the subduction front at the seafloor 3 30 40 km wide trench slope basins associated with an upslope increase in thrust and ridge spacing and 4 mixed siliciclastic carbonate shelves formed in association with margin uplift after filling of the wider 30 40 km trench slope basins the lateral and vertical successions of basin geometries and sedimentary infill are consistent with the overall progressive uplift of the subduction wedge formation of some of the wide trench slope basins may be accompanied by significant local subsidence and normal faulting synchronous with active shortening at the subduction front margin wide normal faulting during the middle late miocene may have formed due to upslope collapse related to tectonic erosion all of the basins studied contain major unconformities at their base and top with basin strata deposited over about 2 8 myr the short life span of these lower trench slope sedimentary basins is consistent with a succession of short paroxysmal tectonic episodes rather than continuous deformation for the duration of subduction stratigraphic discontinuities within basins e g facies changes and reversal of paleo currents also record short term tectonic events c 1 2 myr on the basin bounding structures and attest to the episodic nature of upper plate deformation in response to continuous subduction beneath the active margin

sub critical fracture and associated retrogression of garnet during mylonitic deformation garnets from the alpine fault mylonites are fractured most fractures have a retrogressive fracture fill a small number have garnet fill a detailed sem study has been carried out to elucidate the mechanisms of fracture and associated retrogression wide fracture zones contain free floating islands of garnet in a retrogressive matrix electron channelling patterns show that segments of garnet across such fracture zones rarely show any relative rotations where rotations are observed they are small and systematic some large fractures show clearly that fracture and retrogression occurs by a replacement process fracture surface morphologies are indicative of surface dissolution a model is established where crack tips advance by a process of dissolution at a high stress crack tip whilst precipitation occurs as the tip and its associated stress field advance precipitation of retrogressive fracture fill occurs if fracture occurs out of the field of stability of garnet