Late Pleistocene glaciations of the Waiau Valleys, North Canterbury

Abstract

The Waiau valleys, totalling about 200 miles in length, in North Canterbury, have been the sites of extensive glacial, rluvial, and tectonic activity during late Pleistocene time. The following glacial chronology is based on the degree of weathering of the drifts, the degree of modification of original constructional topography, the relative size and position of moraines, and the relative heights ~nd characteristics of outwash terraces: The Hope, Horseshoe, and Kakapo Glaciations are probably equivalent to the Otira, Waimea, and Waimaunga Glaciations elsewhere in the South Island.