PALYNOLOGICAL EVIDENCE FOR THE LAST GLACIAL MAXIMUM AND LATEGLACIAL CLIMATE CHANGE IN NEW ZEALAND

Terrestrial records of past climate from the Southern Hemisphere (SH) should be able to help resolve several key issues in climate change research. In particular, SH records of climate change events during the transition from the last Glacial to present Interglacial in relation to comparable events in the North Atlantic region, should provide a clear picture of the global extent and patterns of change and insights into the mechanisms involved. This paper presents a synthesis of palaeoecological records from New Zealand in the mid-latitudes of the SH, spanning the interval from the LGM to early Holocene with the objective of identifying and explaining points of coherence and divergence. Key questions concern the timing of maximum cooling during the last glacial maximum (LGM), the last glacial termination and the spatial and temporal patterns of subsequent lateglacial climate change.