A widespread ca. 1.1Â Ma TVZ silicic tephra preserved near Wellington, New Zealand: Implications for regional reconstruction of mid-Pleistocene vegetation

Since the glass ITPFT-age range (±1 SD) for TG tephra extends over Oxygen Isotope Stages (OIS) 37 to 26, the fossiliferous sequence overlying the tephra should be any of the five periods of relative warmth, in spite of the lack of tree pollen and dominance in the profile of herbaceous taxa. However, geochemical comparison of TG tephra with those preserved in ODP site 1124, and two equivalent-age sequences in Auckland region (Patiki Core Site, Okariha) suggest a correlation with OIS 35. On this basis, the presence of Beaupreaidites diversiformis 0.4 m above the base of TG tephra provides a date for the final extinction of the modern New Caledonian genus Beauprea in New Zealand. Pollen from Toronia toru occurs throughout the sequence, far further south than in any other Pleistocene sequence so far analysed.