Exotic pollen rain on the Chatham Islands during the late pleistocene

Abstract

Abtract Exotic pollen and spores have been found in two drillholes and in a vertical face cut in Quaternary peats in the Chatham Islands. They form an average of 4.5% of the total palynoflora at Te Pukaha and in a drillhole near Mt Dieffenbach, and 10% of the total palynoflora in a drillhole in the southern uplands. The nearest source for this pollen is New Zealand, approximately 725 km to the west. These palynomorphs aid in the pollen zonation of the peats. Similar percentages of pollen, especially of beech and podocarp, in New Zealand peats cannot be used to imply a local presence. A new radiocarbon date (NZ3103A) of 20100 ± 400 years B.P. is given for the Rekohu Ash.