Late quaternary terraces between ship creek and the Whakapohai River, South Westland, New Zealand

Abstract

Three terraces are preserved in the narrow coastal strip between Ship Creek and the Whakapohai River, and are named respectively Knights Point Terrace (140-147 m a.s.l.), Sardine-1 Terrace (56-60 m) and Sardine-2 Terrace (24-32 m). Both the Kni.ghts. Point and Sardine-2 Terraces are underlain by marine sediments deposited durmg mterglaclal hIgh stands of sea level. The Sardine-l Terrace is underlain by river gravel resting on lake silts, and it is uncertain whether it was formed in a glacial or interglacial period. Conflicting He dates, which include samples from each terrace both younger and older than the limits of dating (c. 40,000 years), suggest that all the terraces are older than 40,000 years but that the material collected for dating has been contaminated by modern carbon. Based largely on altimetric comparison with levels in north Westland, the following correlations are suggested: Sardine-1 Terrace Waimean or Terangian Stage Sardine-1 Terrace Oturian Stage Knights Point Terrace pre-Terangian