Astronomical calibration of a southern hemisphere Plio-Pleistocene reference section, Wanganui Basin, New Zealand

An integrated sequence stratigraphic, palaeoenvironmental, and chronostratigraphic analysis of the Tangahoe Formation, southern Taranaki coast, with implications for mid‐Pliocene (c. 3.4–3.0 Ma) glacio‐eustatic sea‐level changes

“…Moreover, Naish et al (1998) presented a composite cyclostratigraphy from Wanganui Basin that provided shallow-marine evidence for most of the 48 or so fluctuations in the Northern Hemisphere ice sheets inferred from δ 18 O records (e.g., Shackleton et al 1995). Similar shallow-marine evidence for Northern Hemisphere glacioeustasy has been described from Japan (Cronin et al 1994;Kitamura et al 1994), Italy (Rio et al 1996), and California (Clifton et al 1988).…”

Preface

“…Soon after the publication of Fleming (1953), similar Pliocene-Pleistocene cyclothems were described in the Wairarapa Basin by Vella (1963). Subsequent workers, armed with high resolution oxygen isotope and sequence stratigraphy, have recognised Fleming's "base level" changes in Wanganui Basin as the product of 41 and 100 ka duration global sea-level cycles (Beu & Edwards 1984;Abbott & Carter 1994;Pillans et al 1994;Naish et al 1998;Saul et al 1999). The Wanganui Basin record is now regarded as one of the very few places that can provide "direct evidence" of Pliocene-Pleistocene global sea-level changes inferred from the deep ocean isotope records (N. Shackleton pers.…”

“…Central North Island arc volcanism has contributed substantial volumes of mainly silicic volcanogenic material to Wanganui and other North Island basins during the late Neogene. The tephrochronology together with palaeomagnetic analyses provide powerful tools for correlating the Wanganui sedimentary cycles with global climate proxy records (e.g., Naish et al 1998;Saul et al 1999). Since ground-breaking early work in the 1970s (e.g., Seward 1974) and 1980s (e.g., Seward et al 1986) major advances in integrated chronostratigraphy have been made through the application of isothermal plateau fission track dating (e.g., Alloway et al 1993) in combination with detailed tephrostratigraphic and palaeomagnetic studies (e.g., Pillans et al 1994).…”

“…The new data together with constraints implied from correlation with newly-available, coeval deep ocean ODP records has necessitated some changes to the established Wanganui Basin astrochronology (cf. Naish et al 1998). The revised chronostratigraphy (utilised in this issue by Pillans et al 2005, Naish et al 2005a), now provides a stable cyclostratigraphy for Wanganui Basin.…”

Stratigraphy, age and correlation of middle Pleistocene silicic tephras in the Auckland region, New Zealand: A prolific distal record of Taupo Volcanic Zone volcanism

“…In that study, the glass-ITPFT age data demonstrated that the then existing PliocenePleistocene marine chronology required significant age revision and had important implications when considering the evolution of several other sedimentary basins in the southern North Island that contained the same ITPFT-dated horizons. Since that initial study, the technique has also been used to confirm the age of stratigraphically important rhyolitic horizons (i.e., Potaka Tephra, Shane 1994; Rangitawa Tephra, Pillans et al 1996; Waipuru and Vinegar Hill tephra, Naish et al 1995), and has been pivotal to the establishment of a robust Pliocene-Pleistocene tephrostratigraphic framework (Pillans et al 1994;Shane et al 1995a,b;Naish et al 1998). The glass-ITPFT technique is therefore well suited to the dating of distal rhyolitic tephra in New Zealand, permitting a direct and detailed comparison of stratigraphic and chronologic data in a variety of depositional settings (proximal to distal) and environments.…”