The peat soils of the Auckland Islands

Leamy, M. L.; Blakemore, Laurel C.

doi:10.1080/00288233.1960.10426636

Cited by 20 publications

(9 citation statements)

References 3 publications

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“…Carbon to nitrogen ratios are low in areas with sea bird breeding (Leamy & Blakemore 1960), consistent with inputs of guano N. The relatively low C:N value found in the present study is in the middle of the range found in organic soils in sea bird breeding areas on the Snares Islands (15-31:1; Flint & Fineran 1969), and on the Auckland Islands and Campbell Island (14-34:1; Leamy & Blakemore 1960). The C:N ratio from the present study compares well with constant values of 22.1-23.3 over a depth range of 30-88 cm found adjacent to sea bird burrowing on nearby Putauhinu (DH & JN unpubl.…”

Section: Issues Relating To the Peat Resultssupporting

confidence: 60%

A possible early muttonbirder's fire on Poutama, a Rakiura titi island, New Zealand

Hawke¹,

Newman

Møller

et al. 2003

Journal of the Royal Society of New Zealand

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Muttonbirding for sooty shearwaters (Puffinus griseus) on islands around Rakiura is an ongoing traditional activity of local Maori. There is little archaeological evidence to pinpoint the onset of large-scale birding, so some researchers have suggested that widespread systematic muttonbirding only began in protohistoric times. We present AMS radiocarbon data from an archaeological fire found 65 cm subsurface on Poutama, an island off Rakiura. Duplicate analyses of charcoal and a single analysis of underlying peat were used to date the fire, constrained by C accumulation calculations and chemical and isotopic analysis. By comparing C:N ratios and C accumulation calculations with literature values, the peat result (176 ± 55 BP) was shown to be invalid because of contamination viabioturbation. The combined charcoal radiocarbon data were consistent with being estimates of a single value (326 ± 42 BP). After calibration, the fire was dated at AD 1470-1660 (95% confidence interval). Carbon-13 analysis was consistent with charcoal from different individual plants. The C accumulation rate (61-96 g C m -2 yr -1 ) was at the upper end of literature values, consistent with a high nutrient and well-oxygenated soil environment. Our results highlight the need for more systematic data collection and experimentation to better assess the time of onset of systematic muttonbirding.

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Section: Issues Relating To the Peat Resultssupporting

confidence: 60%

A possible early muttonbirder's fire on Poutama, a Rakiura titi island, New Zealand

Hawke¹,

Newman

Møller

et al. 2003

Journal of the Royal Society of New Zealand

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“…The publications of the 50s and 60s reported the research conducted by Taylor (1955) on the soils of Macquarie Island, by Leamy and Blakemore (1960), on Auckland Island, by Holdgate et al (1967) and Allen et al 1967), on Campbell Island (Campbell 1981), on Signy Island, and by Everett (1976) on the Antarctic Peninsula. Starting with the 1980s and continuing to the present there has been an increase in soil investigations in the ice-free coastal areas of East Antarctica and outside of conterminous Antarctica.…”

Section: History Of Soil Investigations In Antarcticamentioning

confidence: 95%

Antarctic soils and soil formation in a changing environment: A review

2008

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“…He suggested that the expansion of M etrosideros occurred during the warm phase of the 12th century, but more recent studies indicate that this event was thousands of years, rather than hundreds of years, old. Leamy and Blakemore (1960) reported a radiocarbon age of 6290 ± 110 yr BP (NZ 313) for peat from the lower half of a profile at the head of the first bay north-northwest of Ranui Cove, and pollen analysis of that peat provided a spectrum (Table 2) which could be equated with the older grassland-shrubland stage of the published pollen diagrams. In Jhnuary 1966, Dr P. Johns, Zoology Department, University of Canterbury, collected a sample from a peat layer 0.15 m thick lying between layers of gravel near the top of a 15 m high cliff at Musgrave Peninsula, Auckland Island.…”

Section: Previous Workmentioning

confidence: 99%

Quaternary sediments and plant microfossils from Enderby Island, Auckland Islands

Fleming¹,

Mildenhall²,

Moar³

1976

Journal of the Royal Society of New Zealand

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At Enderby Island, a deposit of till, here named the Enderby Formation, locally separated into upper and lower members by lenses of laminated lake siltstone, overlies a sequence of flat-lying basalt flows, perhaps benched by ,the sea during an interglacial period of high sea level. Except on the coast these deposits are blanketed by zonal peat, 3 m thick, which contains the record of post-glacial vegetation.The Lower Till was deposited by the extended glacier that spread out from Laurie Harbour, at the head of Port Ross, flowing from the higher parts of the Ross Volcano when sea level was low, presumably during an early stadial of the last (or Otiran) glacial stage.The Laminated Siltstone (5 m), deposited in a pro-glacial meltwater lake dammed by moraine during a lateral swing or temporary retreat of the glacier, is injected by curious carrot-shaped structures of till, each apparently emplaced by the rapid sinking of a ma.'''11 of rock-laden iceberg which penetrated the unconsolidated silts to depths of almost two metres. The emplacement of such "till carrots" was contemporary with deposition of the silt. The ice re-advanced to deposit an Upper Till Member over the underlying members, locally deforming them and picking up siltstone clasts.The Laminated Siltstone and a clast of siltstone from the Upper Till contain pollen 'and spores indicating a cold-climate vegetation of dominant Compositae with associated herbs, grass, sedge and scrub (Coprosma, Dracophyllum, and Myrsine) but lacking Metrosideros and other trees of the present Auckland Island vegetation.The till members may represent two stadials of the last glaciation and the siltstone an interstadial between them, or they may merely represent fluctuations of minor significance.The blanket peat overlying the till sequence has three members, a lower peat with tree stumps, a middle sandy peat containing angular sand 'and subangular basalt clasts (up to 45 cm through), and an upper peat with scattered well-rounded basalt pebbles, identified as seal gastroliths. The sandy peat is tentatively attributed to the influence of blown sand advancing inland when the post-glacial sea (also represented by an elevated beach) first 'approached its maximum level.Four zones in the peat can be defined from pollen analysis. In Zone 1, woody elements (e.g. Myrsine, Coprosma) and Compositae are abundant, with sedge and grass, and at the top of the zone rooted stumps of Dracophyllum (underrepresented by pollen) gave a HC age of 8630 ± 80 yr BP. In Zone 2, Anisotome pollen increases, Myrsine, Coprosma and Olearia-type pollen grains decrease, Dracophyllum enters with various herbs, and persistent grass is dominant over sedge. In Zone 3, Metrosideros pollen is relatively common.Tillaea and sedges rise steeply as grass declines but Myrsine, Coprosma and Dracophyllum decrease. In Zone 4, grass increases once more (with Myosotis and Myrsine) while Bulbinella, Anisotome and woody shrubs decrease.The Metrosideros phase in Zone 3 (reflecting a warm interval from ca. 6000 to 3000 yr ...

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The peat soils of the Auckland Islands

Cited by 20 publications

References 3 publications

A possible early muttonbirder's fire on Poutama, a Rakiura titi island, New Zealand

A possible early muttonbirder's fire on Poutama, a Rakiura titi island, New Zealand

Antarctic soils and soil formation in a changing environment: A review

Quaternary sediments and plant microfossils from Enderby Island, Auckland Islands

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