A 28 000–6600 cal yr record of local and distal volcanism preserved in a paleolake, Auckland, New Zealand

Abstract

A 52.5 m core was extracted from Pukaki Crater, an infilled basaltic explosion crater in the Auckland Volcanic Field, for detailed tephra and palynological analysis. The core consists of a lower 6 m of finely laminated lacustrine sediments representing the interval c. 28 000–6600 cal yr overlain by 46.5 m of homogeneous marine silts deposited between c. 7600 and 6600 cal yr. Favourable conditions have preserved at least 40 tephra layers in the sediments. These have been derived from one local and five distal sources and were deposited within the crater lake between c. 28 000 and c. 7600 cal yr. The tephra beds were identified by stratigraphic position, geochemical analyses, and ferro‐magnesian mineral assemblage. This tephrostratigraphic framework is underpinned by three distinctive tephra beds, namely Tuhua (c. 6950 cal yr), Rotoma (c. 9500 cal yr), and Kawakawa (c. 26 500 cal yr). Of the 40 tephra beds, 7 are sourced from the rhyolitic Okataina Volcanic Centre (Mamaku c. 8200 cal yr; Rotoma c. 9500 cal yr; Waiohau c. 13 800 cal yr; Rotorua c. 15 800 cal yr; Rerewhakaaitu c. 17 700 cal yr; Okareka c. 21 400 cal yr; Te Rere c. 25 000 cal yr), 3 from the rhyolitic Taupo Volcanic Centre (Opepe c. 10 200 cal yr; Kawakawa c. 26 500 cal yr; Poihipi c. 27 500 cal yr), 5 from the andesitic Tongariro Volcanic Centre, 14 from the andesitic Taranaki Volcano, 1 from Mayor Island (Tuhua c. 6950 cal yr), and 8 from the basaltic Auckland Volcanic Field. In addition, two previously unidentified rhyolitic tephra (c. 17 100 cal yr and c. 20 720 cal yr) are recorded. The occurrence of numerous andesitic and rhyolitic tephra beds in the Auckland region extends the known dispersal of the units and has implications for the assessment of volcanic hazards from distal sources. Many of the Taranaki‐derived tephra beds do not stratigraphically match those recorded in the Waikato lakes region and this suggests that Taranaki Volcano produced more ash than previously estimated. The distal tephra record preserved at Pukaki provides age constraints for Auckland Volcanic Field basaltic tephra that are otherwise poorly dated. Basaltic fall events are recorded at c. 14 450 cal yr, 15 750 cal yr, 19 380 cal yr, 19 420 cal yr, 23 825 cal yr, 24 175 cal yr, 25 200 cal yr, and 25 700 cal yr. Fresh glass in the basaltic tephra allows them to be chemically fingerprinted and discriminated, and this will open a new avenue to development of a regional basaltic tephrostratigraphy.