Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-mkpzs Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-27T04:21:53.556Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Pleistocene glaciation of the King Valley, Western Tasmania, Australia

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

Sean J. Fitzsimons  and
Eric A. Colhoun
Sean J. Fitzsimons
Affiliation:
Department of Geography and Oceanography, Australian Defence Force Academy, University of New South Wales, Campbell, ACT 2601, Australia
Eric A. Colhoun
Affiliation:
Department of Geography, University of Newcastle, Newcastle, NSW 2308, Australia
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Analysis of the geomorphology, geology, and palynology of deposits in the King Valley permits the identification of four glaciations and two interglaciations and has led to a revision of the Pleistocene stratigraphy of the West Coast Range. The oldest late-Cenozoic deposits in the valley appear to predate glaciation, contain extinct pollen types, and are probably of late-Tertiary age. Overlying deposits of the Linda Glaciation show intense chemical weathering and have a reversed detrital remanent magnetization indicating deposition before 730,000 yr B.P. The highly weathered tills are conformably overlain by organic deposits of the Regency Interglaciation which show a transition from montane scrub rainforest to lowland temperate rainforest. Deposits formed during the later Moore Glaciation record advances of the King Glacier and glaciers from the West Coast Range. A pollen-bearing fluvial deposit records an interstade during this glaciation. On the basis of weathering rinds, amino acid dating, and palaeomagnetism the deposits are estimated to have formed between 730,000 and 390,000 yr B.P. The Moore Glaciation deposits are overlain by sediments of the Henty Glaciation which are believed to predate 130,000 yr B.P. These deposits record multiple advances of the King Glacier and the development of a large lake during an interstade. Deposits of the subsequent Pieman Interglaciation consist of organic fine sands and silts that record a lowland scrub rainforest. Deposits of the last (Margaret) glaciation are restricted to small areas in the northern part of the valley. Although the most recent ice advance culminated after 19,000 yr B.P., evidence of older deposits of the Margaret Glaciation suggests that an early last-glaciation ice advance may have occurred. When combined with earlier studies, the recent work in the King Valley has provided one of the more complete records of Pleistocene glaciation in the Southern Hemisphere. Comparison of the deposits with the record of glaciation in southern South America and Westland, New Zealand, suggests some similarities exist between pre-last-glaciation events and indicates that glacial events in Southern Hemisphere middle latitude areas were synchronous during the last glaciation.

Type
Articles
Information
Quaternary Research , Volume 36 , Issue 2 , September 1991 , pp. 135 - 156
Copyright
University of Washington

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Augustinus, P. The Glacial Geomorphology of the Middle Pieman-Bulgobac area. Unpublished B.Sc. (Honors) thesis 1982 Dept. of Geography, University of Tasmania Google Scholar
Banks, M. R. Colhoun, E. A. Hannan, D. Early discoveries of the effects of ice action in Australia. Journal of Glaciology 33 1987 231 235 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bowen, F. E. Stratigraphy: Lower Quaternary Nelson and Westland Suggate, R. P. Stevens, G. R. Te Punga, M. T. The Geology of New Zealand 1978 Government Printer Wellington 567 570 Google Scholar
Colhoun, E. A. Quaternary fluviatile deposits from the Pieman Dam site, western Tasmania. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London B 207 1980 355 384 Google Scholar
Colhoun, E. A. Glaciations of the West Coast Range, Tasmania. Quaternary Research 24 1985 39 59 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Colhoun, E. A. Problems of radiocarbon dating in Tasmania. Papers and Proceedings of the Royal Society of Tasmania 120 1986 1 6 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Colhoun, E. A. van de Geer, G. Darwin Crater, the King and Linda Valleys Colhoun, E. A. Cainozoic Vegetation of Tasmania. Special Paper 1988 Department of Geography, University of Newcastle 29 54 Google Scholar
Colman, S. M. Rock weathering rates as functions of time. Quaternary Research 15 1981 250 264 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Corbett, K. D. Green, G. R. Williams, P. R. The geology of central western Tasmania Banks, M. R. Kirkpatrick, J. B. Landscape and Man 1977 Royal Society of Tasmania Hobart 7 28 Google Scholar
Denton, G. H. Hughes, T. The Last Great Ice Sheets 1981 Wiley New York Google Scholar
Fitzsimons, S. J. The Quaternary Stratigraphy and Sedimentology of the King Valley, Western Tasmania. Unpublished Ph.D. thesis 1988 Department of Geography, University of Tasmania Google Scholar
Fitzsimons, S. J. Colhoun, E. A. van de Geer, G. Hill, R. S. Definition and character of the Regency Interglacial and Early Pleistocene stratigraphy in the King Valley, western Tasmania. Boreas 19 1990 1 15 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Fitzsimons, S. J. Colhoun, E. A. van de Geer, G. Middle Pleistocene glacial stratigraphy at Baxter Rivulet, western Tasmania. Australia. Journal of Quaternary Science 5 1990 17 27 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gibson, N. Kiernan, K. W. Macphail, M. K. A fossil plant bolster from the King River, Tasmania. Papers and Proceedings of the Royal Society of Tasmania 121 1987 35 42 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hedberg, H. D. International Stratigraphic Guide 1976 Wiley New York Google Scholar
Hill, R. S. Macphail, M. K. Reconstruction of the Oligocene vegetation at Pioneer, northeast Tasmania. Alcheringa 7 1983 281 299 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hill, R. S. Macphail, M. K. A fossil flora from rafted Plio-Pleistocene mudstone at Regatta Point, Tasmania. Australian Journal of Botany 33 1985 497 517 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jouzel, J. Lorius, C. Petit, J. R. Genthon, C. Barkov, N. I. Kotyakov, C. M. Petroz, V. M. Vostok ice core: A continuous isotope temperature record over the last climatic cycle (160,000 years). Nature 329 1987 403 408 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kiernan, K. W. Pleistocene glaciation of the central West Coast Range, Tasmania. Unpublished B.Sc. (Honors) thesis 1980 Dept. of Geography, University of Tasmania Google Scholar
Kiernan, K. W. Weathering evidence for an additional glacial stage in Tasmania. Australian Geographical Studies 21 1983 197 220 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kirkpatrick, J. B. The impact of man on the vegetation of the west coast region Banks, M. R. Kirkpatrick, J. B. Landscape and Man 1977 Royal Society of Tasmania Hobart 155 156 Google Scholar
Mercer, J. H. Glacial history of southernmost South America. Quaternary Research 6 1976 125 166 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mercer, J. H. Cenozoic glaciation in the Southern Hemisphere. Annual Review of Earth and Planetary Sciences 11 1983 99 132 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pickrill, R. A. Irwin, J. Sedimentation in a deep glacier fed lake—Lake Tekapo, New Zealand. Sedimentology 30 1983 63 75 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Porter, S. C. Pleistocene glaciation in the southern lake district of Chile. Quaternary Research 16 1981 263 292 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sansom, P. W. The glacial geomorphology of the Tullah area. Unpublished B.Sc. (Honors) thesis 1978 Dept. of Geography, University of Tasmania Google Scholar
Shackleton, N. J. Opdyke, N. D. Oxygen isotope and palaeomagnetic stratigraphy of Equatorial Pacific core V28–238: oxygen isotope temperatures and ice volumes on a 105 year and 106 year scale. Quaternary Research 3 1973 39 55 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Stuiver, M. Mercer, J. H. Moreno, H. R. Erroneous data for Chilean glacial advance. Science 188 1975 73 74 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Suggate, R. P. Lake Pleistocene geology of the northern part of the South Island, New Zealand. New Zealand Geological Survey Bulletin 77 1965 Google Scholar
Suggate, R. P. The Glacial/Interglacial sequence of North Westland, New Zealand. New Zealand Geological Survey Record 7 1985 Google Scholar
Suggate, R. P. Where have all the glaciations gone? Pillans, B. Proceedings of the Second CLIMANZ Conference 1985 Geology Department, Victoria University Wellington 47 48 Google Scholar
Suggate, R. P. Moar, N. T. Revision of the chronology of the late Otira glacial. New Zealand Journal of Geology and Geophysics 13 1970 742 746 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
van der Hammen, T. Barelds, J. De Jong, H. De Veer, A. A. Glacial sequence and environmental history in the Sierra Nevada del Cocuy (Colombia). Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 32 1981 247 340 CrossRefGoogle Scholar