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RST Apology to Tasmanian Aboriginal people 2021.

The Southern Hemisphere glacial record – Antarctica and New Zealand

Papers & Reports

Summary

The New Zealand terrestrial glacial record and that of the Dry Valleys area, McMurdo Sound, Antarctica are compared in a chronological table of events. The Antarctic chronology given is that of a stable East Antarctic Ice Sheet hypothesis, while an alternative postulates a Pliocene collapse of the ice sheet. Whereas the New Zealand record commences at about 2.5 Ma, the Antarctic record commences in detail at 15 Ma. Following the New Zealand late Pliocene glacial events, a hiatus of over one million years occurs where the combined effects
of uplift and erosion have almost entirely removed the terrestrial record. The ages of the Antarctic sequence have been determined by Art Ar dates of volcanic ash associated with the deposits, while the older New Zealand events have been dated by association with fluctuating sea levels and sequence counts. Younger New Zealand events are relatively well constrained by radiometric dates. The New Zealand Pleistocene concludes with a rapid warming at c. 14 ka which heralded the demise of the huge Pleistocene glaciers, while in Antarctica the end of the Pleistocene is marked by the disappearance of marine Ross Sea ice.

 

Keywords:

Royal Society of Tasmania, RST, Van Diemens Land, natural history, science, ecology, taxonomy, botany, zoology, geology, geography, papers & proceedings, Australia, UTAS Library

Acknowledgement of Country

The Royal Society of Tasmania acknowledges, with deep respect, the traditional owners of this land, and the ongoing custodianship of the Aboriginal people of Tasmania. The Society pays respect to Elders past, present and emerging. We acknowledge that Tasmanian Aboriginal Peoples have survived severe and unjust impacts resulting from invasion and dispossession of their Country. As an institution dedicated to the advancement of knowledge, the Royal Society of Tasmania recognises Aboriginal cultural knowledge and practices and seeks to respect and honour these traditions and the deep understanding they represent.

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On 15 February 2021, the Royal Society of Tasmania offered a formal Apology to the Tasmanian Aboriginal people.