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Periglacial tarn on the R ock and P illar R ange crest, south‐central S outh I sland, N ew Z ealand, and its surrounding snowbank community
Author(s) -
Mark Alan F.,
Molau Ulf,
Whigham Peter,
Little Lorna,
Nielsen Jacqueline
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
austral ecology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.688
H-Index - 87
eISSN - 1442-9993
pISSN - 1442-9985
DOI - 10.1111/aec.12310
Subject(s) - geology , radiocarbon dating , range (aeronautics) , schist , pillar , wetland , archaeology , paleontology , oceanography , ecology , geography , metamorphic rock , materials science , structural engineering , engineering , composite material , biology
A small 18 × 1–5 m, distinctive, teardrop‐shaped alpine tarn about 55‐cm deep with a variable schist plate rock‐silty bed, a wetland rim and surrounding snowbank community is described from a shallow depression in the headwaters of a small primary stream at 1400 m on the crest of the R ock and P illar R ange (1450 m), south‐central S outh I sland, N ew Z ealand. Its initiation some 2500–3000 years ago (based on radiocarbon dating of peaty material near the base of the dam front) may have been serendipitous, but the prevailing periglacial environment of the area, involving seasonal freezing of the pond surface, has probably been conducive to its maintenance and slow extension. Despite some floristic similarities, it differs from any known alpine tarns, and a request via a YouTube video has not revealed any similar features.