Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of contributors
- Preface: the new Pleistocene
- Foreword
- Part I Definition of the base of the Quaternary
- Part II Characterization of the Pleistocene boundary-stratotype
- Part III The paleontological context of the Pleistocene boundary
- Part IV The Pleistocene boundary in regional sequences
- 11 The Pliocene–Pleistocene boundary in Italy
- 12 Stratigraphy of the Plio–Pleistocene sequence of the Mediterranean coastal belt of Israel and its implications for the evolution of the Nile Cone
- 13 The Pliocene–Pleistocene transition in the Iberian Peninsula
- 14 Biostratigraphy and calibrated climatic chronology of the Upper Pliocene and Lower Pleistocene of France
- 15 The Plio–Pleistocene of England and Iceland
- 16 The Neogene–Ouaternary boundary in The Netherlands
- 17 The Tertiary–Quaternary boundary in western Germany
- 18 The Pliocene–Pleistocene boundary in eastern Germany
- 19 The Plio–Pleistocene of Hungary
- 20 The Pliocene–Pleistocene boundary in Romania
- 21 The Pliocene and Pleistocene of the European part of the Commonwealth of Independent States
- 22 The N/Q boundary in Asian Russia and Tadjikistan
- 23 The Pliocene–Pleistocene boundary in the Indian subcontinent
- 24 The Pliocene–Pleistocene boundary in Japan: the Osaka Group, Kinki district
- 25 The Pliocene–Pleistocene boundary in Japan: stratigraphy in the Boso Peninsula, central Japan
- 26 The base of the Quaternary in China
- 27 Plio–Pleistocene deposits and the Quaternary boundary in sub-Saharan Africa
- 28 Plio–Pleistocene reference sections in Indonesia
- 29 The Pliocene–Pleistocene boundary in New Zealand
- 30 The Pliocene–Pleistocene boundary in continental sequences of North America
- Index
29 - The Pliocene–Pleistocene boundary in New Zealand
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 10 November 2009
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of contributors
- Preface: the new Pleistocene
- Foreword
- Part I Definition of the base of the Quaternary
- Part II Characterization of the Pleistocene boundary-stratotype
- Part III The paleontological context of the Pleistocene boundary
- Part IV The Pleistocene boundary in regional sequences
- 11 The Pliocene–Pleistocene boundary in Italy
- 12 Stratigraphy of the Plio–Pleistocene sequence of the Mediterranean coastal belt of Israel and its implications for the evolution of the Nile Cone
- 13 The Pliocene–Pleistocene transition in the Iberian Peninsula
- 14 Biostratigraphy and calibrated climatic chronology of the Upper Pliocene and Lower Pleistocene of France
- 15 The Plio–Pleistocene of England and Iceland
- 16 The Neogene–Ouaternary boundary in The Netherlands
- 17 The Tertiary–Quaternary boundary in western Germany
- 18 The Pliocene–Pleistocene boundary in eastern Germany
- 19 The Plio–Pleistocene of Hungary
- 20 The Pliocene–Pleistocene boundary in Romania
- 21 The Pliocene and Pleistocene of the European part of the Commonwealth of Independent States
- 22 The N/Q boundary in Asian Russia and Tadjikistan
- 23 The Pliocene–Pleistocene boundary in the Indian subcontinent
- 24 The Pliocene–Pleistocene boundary in Japan: the Osaka Group, Kinki district
- 25 The Pliocene–Pleistocene boundary in Japan: stratigraphy in the Boso Peninsula, central Japan
- 26 The base of the Quaternary in China
- 27 Plio–Pleistocene deposits and the Quaternary boundary in sub-Saharan Africa
- 28 Plio–Pleistocene reference sections in Indonesia
- 29 The Pliocene–Pleistocene boundary in New Zealand
- 30 The Pliocene–Pleistocene boundary in continental sequences of North America
- Index
Summary
Introduction
Since 1953 the Pliocene–Pleistocene boundary in New Zealand has been set at the base of the Nukumaruan (regional) Stage because that coincides with the abrupt first appearance of the subantarctic bivalve Chlamys delicatula (Hutton) in marine sequences of central New Zealand. However, it is now estimated, on the basis of biostratigraphic, magnetostratigraphic, and radiometric data, that the Nukumaruan commenced at about 2.4 Ma and ended about 1.3 Ma and that the Olduvai subchron approximately coincides with the middle of the Nukumaruan. In the stratotype Nukumaruan, and in correlative sections, a marked lithologic change (interpreted as the result of glacioeustatic regression) following the first appearance of Gephyrocapsa sinuosa Hay and Beaudry may be correlative with the top of the Olduvai and with the Vrica boundary-stratotype.
Historical background
In New Zealand, the regional stages for Upper Pliocene to Middle Pleistocene strata, in upward sequential order, are Waipipian, Mangapanian, and Nukumaruan. The Nukumaruan Stage is sometimes divided into the Hautawan and (above) Marahauan substages. More or less continuous marine and nonmarine sequences extend from the Pliocene into the Pleistocene in various parts of the country. Internal correlation between the sequences is poor, and for external paleontological correlation, for example with Italy, only the marine sequences are of value. Modern reviews of the Pliocene–Pleistocene boundary have been published by Vella (1975), Jenkins (1975), Hornibrook (1976), Edwards, Hornibrook, and Te Punga (1981), and Te Punga (1981).
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- The Pleistocene Boundary and the Beginning of the Quaternary , pp. 273 - 277Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 1996
- 1
- Cited by