ABSTRACT
The glacial history of the New Zealand sector of the Southern Hemisphere is reviewed. The history of the Last Glacial in New Zealand seems to be broadly similar to that of Europe and North America, except that New Zealand appears to have emerged somewhat earlier than Europe and considerably earlier than North America. Possible reasons for this are discussed. In the New Zealand sector it appears that the latitudinal temperature gradient increased at 38° S latitude with the glacial cooling in northern North Island being only 2° Celsius, which was considerably less than the 5 tot 6°C cooling in southern New Zealand.
The glacial history of the New Zealand sector of Antarctica is reviewed and it is shown that glaciations in Antarctica are more complicated than in the temperate regions of the world and not simply related to climate cooling. It is concluded that there are four separate superimposed sets of glacial events ultimately related to one another and to events in the rest of the world. Some of the glacial advances are clearly out of phase with the major glacials of late Cainozoic time, and the fascinating question is whether the Antarctic glacial system is being driven by the climate of the rest of the world or vice versa.
