Late Holocene environmental record and geological history of the Lake Colenso area, north-western Ruahine Range, New Zealand

Abstract

Sediment cores from a landslide-dammed lake, Lake Colenso (North Island, New Zealand), contain a decadal- to centennial-scale record of changing climate spanning the past 1800 years. A multi-proxy approach has been used to obtain a high-resolution record of variability from the Lake Colenso catchment, and tephra horizons combined with radiocarbon ages provide chronological constraints. Since the lake is located within a mountainous forested catchment of the northern Ruahine Range, it has remained pristine and isolated from human disturbance