Hostname: page-component-848d4c4894-x5gtn Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-06-09T08:16:48.638Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Late Pleistocene Glaciation of the Kosciuszko Massif, Snowy Mountains, Australia

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

Timothy T. Barrows ,
John O. Stone ,
L. Keith Fifield  and
Richard G. Cresswell
Timothy T. Barrows
Affiliation:
Research School of Earth Sciences, Australian National University, Canberra, ACT, 0200, Australia
John O. Stone
Affiliation:
Quaternary Research Center and Department of Geological Sciences, University of Washington, Box 351360, Seattle, 98195-1360
L. Keith Fifield
Affiliation:
Department of Nuclear Physics, Research School of Physical Sciences and Engineering, Australian National University, Canberra, ACT, 0200, Australia
Richard G. Cresswell
Affiliation:
Department of Nuclear Physics, Research School of Physical Sciences and Engineering, Australian National University, Canberra, ACT, 0200, Australia
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Late Pleistocene glaciation of the Australian mainland was restricted to a small area of the southeastern highlands. Geomorphic mapping of the area and exposure dating using the in situ produced cosmogenic isotope 10Be provides evidence for at least two distinct glaciations. The Early Kosciuszko glaciation consisted of a single glacier advance before 59,300 ± 5400 years ago (Snowy River Advance). The Late Kosciuszko glaciation comprised three glacier advances 32,000 ± 2500 (Headley Tarn Advance), 19,100 ± 1600 (Blue Lake Advance), and 16,800 ± 1400 years ago (Mt. Twynam Advance). The Early Kosciuszko glaciation was the most extensive and the Late Kosciuszko advances were progressively less extensive. These periods of glaciation in the highlands correspond to episodes of periglacial activity and peaks in lake levels and river discharge at lower elevations in southeastern Australia. Glacier advances on the Kosciuszko Massif correlate with advances in Tasmania, South America, and New Zealand and are broadly representative of hemispheric climate changes during the last glacial cycle.

Keywords

late PleistoceneAustraliaglacial geologyexposure dating10Be
Type
Research Article
Information
Quaternary Research , Volume 55 , Issue 2 , March 2001 , pp. 179 - 189
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

Bard, E., Arnold, M., Hamelin, B., Tisnerat-Laborde, N., Cabioch, G., 1998. Radiocarbon calibration by means of mass spectrometric 230Th/234U and 14C of corals. An updated data base including samples from Barbados, Mururoa and Tahiti. Radiocarbon 40, 1041–1085.Google Scholar
Barrows, T.T., Juggins, S., De Deckker, P., Thiede, J., Martinez, J.I., 2000. Sea-surface temperatures of the southwest Pacific Ocean during the last glacial maximum. Paleoceanography 15, 95–109.Google Scholar
Bowler, J.M., 1967. Quaternary chronology of Goulburn Valley sediments and their correlation in southeastern Australia. Journal of the Geological Society of Australia 14, 287–292.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bowler, J. M. 1978. Quaternary climate and tectonics in the evolution of the Riverine Plain, southeastern Australia In Landform Evolution in Australia. Davies, J. L. and Williams, M. A. J., Eds., pp. 149–172. Australian National University, Canberra.Google Scholar
Bureau of Meteorology. 1988. Climatic Averages Australia. Australian Government Publishing Service Canberra.Google Scholar
Caine, N., Jennings, J.N., 1968. Some blockstreams of the Toolong Range, Kosciusko State Park, New South Wales. Journal and Proceedings of the Royal Society of New South Wales 101, 93–103.Google Scholar
Cerling, T.E., Craig, H., 1994. Geomorphology and in-situ cosmogenic isotopes. Annual Reviews of Earth and Planetary Science 22, 273–317.Google Scholar
Cook, P. J. 1986. , Geomorphology and Sedimentology of the Winderadeen Embankment, Lake George, New South Wales Unpublished B.A. thesis, Department of Geography , Australian National University, Canberra.Google Scholar
Costin, A.B., 1972. Carbon-14 dates from the Snowy Mountains area, southeastern Australia, and their interpretation. Quaternary Research 2, 579–590.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Coventry, R.J., 1976. Abandoned shorelines and the late Quaternary history of Lake George, New South Wales. Journal of the Geological Society of Australia 23, 249–273.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
David, T.W.E., Helms, R., Pittman, E.F., 1901. Geological notes on Kosciusko, with special reference to evidences of glacial action. Proceedings of the Linnean Society of New South Wales 26, 26–74.Google Scholar
Denton, G.H., Heusser, C.J., Lowell, T.V., Moreno, P.I., Andersen, B.G., Heusser, L.E., Schlucter, C., Marchant, D.R., 1999. Interhemispheric linkage of paleoclimate during the last glaciation. Geografiska Annaler 81A, 107–153.Google Scholar
Dulhunty, J.A., 1945. On glacial lakes in the Kosciusko region. Journal and Proceedings of the Royal Society of New South Wales 79, 143–152.Google Scholar
Fifield, L.K., Allan, G.L., Stone, J.O., Ophel, T.R., 1994. The ANU AMS system and research program. Nuclear Instruments and Methods 92, 85–88.Google Scholar
Fitzsimmons, S.J., Colhoun, E.A., 1991. Pleistocene glaciation of the King Valley, western Tasmania, Australia. Quaternary Research 36, 135–156.Google Scholar
Galloway, R.W., 1963. Glaciation in the Snowy Mountains: A re-appraisal. Proceedings of the Linnean Society of New South Wales 88, 180–198.Google Scholar
Galloway, R.W., 1965. Late Quaternary climates in Australia. Journal of Geology 73, 603–618.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Galloway, R.W., 1967. Dating of shore features at Lake George, New South Wales. Australian Journal of Science 29, 477.Google Scholar
Gibson, N., Kiernan, K.W., Macphail, M.K., 1987. A fossil plant bolster from the King River, Tasmania. Papers and Proceedings of the Royal Society of Tasmania 121, 35–42.Google Scholar
Guyodo, Y., Valet, J.-P., 1999. Global changes in intensity of the Earth's magnetic field during the past 800 kyr. Nature 399, 249–252.Google Scholar
Heisinger, B., Niedermayer, M., Hartmann, F.J., Korschinek, G., Nolte, E., Morteani, G., Neumaier, S., Petitjean, C., Kubik, P., Synal, A., Ivy-Ochs, S., 1997. In-situ production of radionuclides at great depths. Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research B123, 341–346.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jouzel, J., Lorius, C., Petit, J.R., Genthon, C., Barkov, N.I., Kotlyakov, V.M., Petrov, V.M., 1987. Vostok ice core: A continuous isotope temperature record over the last climatic cycle (160,000 years). Nature 329, 403–407.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kohl, C.P., Nishiizumi, K., 1992. Chemical isolation of quartz for measurement of in-situ-produced cosmogenic nuclides. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta 56, 3583–3587.Google Scholar
Lal, D., 1991. Cosmic ray labelling of erosion surfaces: In situ nuclide production rates and erosion models. Earth and Planetary Science Letters 104, 424–439.Google Scholar
McElhinny, M.W., Senanayake, W.E., 1982. Variations in the geomagnetic dipole 1: The past 50,000 years. Journal of Geomagnetism and Geoelectricity 34, 39–51.Google Scholar
Nelson, C.S., Cooke, P.J., Hendy, C.G., Cuthbertson, A.M., 1993. Oceanographic and climatic changes over the past 160,000 years at Deep Sea Drilling Project Site 594 off southwestern New Zealand, southwest Pacific Ocean. Paleoceanography 8, 435–458.Google Scholar
Nishiizumi, K., Finkel, R.C., Kohl, C.P., 1989. Cosmic ray production rates of 10Be and 26Al in quartz from glacially polished rocks. Journal of Geophysical Research 94, 17907–17915.Google Scholar
Ohno, M., Hamano, Y., 1993. Global analysis of the geomagnetic field: Time variation of the dipole moment and the geomagnetic pole in the Holocene. Journal of Geomagnetism and Geoelectricity 45, 1455–1466.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Page, K.J., Nanson, G.C., Price, D.M., 1991. Thermoluminescence chronology of late Quaternary deposits on the Riverine Plain of south-eastern Australia. Australian Geographer 22, 14–23.Google Scholar
Page, K., Nanson, G., Price, D., 1996. Chronology of Murrumbidgee River paleochannels on the Riverine Plain, southeastern Australia. Journal of Quaternary Science 11, 311–326.Google Scholar
Porter, S.C., 1981. Pleistocene glaciation in the southern Lake District of Chile. Quaternary Research 16, 263–292.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Raine, I. J. 1974. , Pollen Sedimentation in Relation to the Quaternary Vegetation History of the Snowy Mountains of New South Wales Unpublished Ph.D. thesis, Department of Biogeography and Geomorphology, Research School of Pacific Studies , Australian National University, Canberra.Google Scholar
Stone, J.O., Ballantyne, C.K., Fifield, L.K., 1998. Exposure dating and validation of periglacial weathering limits, northwest Scotland. Geology 26, 587–590.2.3.CO;2>CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Stuiver, M., Reimer, P.J., Bard, E., Beck, J.W., Burr, G.S., Hughen, K.A., Kromer, B., McCormick, G., van der Plict, J., Spurk, M., 1998. INTCAL 98 radiocarbon age calibration, 24,000–0 cal BP. Radiocarbon 40, 1041–1083.Google Scholar
Suggate, R.P., 1990. Late Pliocene and Quaternary glaciations of New Zealand. Quaternary Science Reviews 9, 175–197.Google Scholar
Weaver, P.P.E., Carter, L., Neil, H., 1998. Response of surface water masses and circulation to late Quaternary climate change east of New Zealand. Paleoceanography 13, 70–83.Google Scholar
Wells, P., Okada, O., 1997. Response of nannoplankton to major changes in sea-surface temperature and movements of hydrological fronts over Site DSDP 594 (south Chatham Rise, southeastern New Zealand), during the last 130 kyr. Marine Micropaleontology 32, 341–363.CrossRefGoogle Scholar