A late Quaternary moraine sequence dated by rock weathering rinds, Craigieburn Range, New Zealand

Abstract

Basins draining the Craigieburn Range, New Zealand, preserve a nearly complete late Quaternary moraine sequence. There are no radiocarbon dates, but moraine ages were determined by weathering-rind dating using thicknesses of rinds on surface-exposed sandstone boulders. Periods of expanded glaciers occurred 0.53, 0.66–2.5, 2.8–4.2, 5.9–9.7, and 16 thousand calendar (sidereal) years ago. Earlier periods of expanded glaciers in the region are dated by inference, largely from the ocean oxygen-isotope record, at 21–23.3, 25.5, and 56–70 ka.