Distribution of surficial sediments in the ocean around New Zealand/Aotearoa. Part A: continental slope and deep ocean

• Published in: New Zealand Journal of Geology and Geophysics
• Main Authors: Bostock, Helen, Jenkins, Chris, Mackay, Kevin, Carter, Lionel, Nodder, Scott, Orpin, Alan, Pallentin, Arne, Wysoczanski, Richard
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Taylor & Francis Asia Pacific 2019
• Subjects: Western-Boundary Current; Taupo Volcanic Zone; Antarctic Circumpolar Current; Subtropical Front Region; Macquarie Ridge Complex; Southern Alpine Fault; Offshore New-Zealand; Margin Cook Strait; Sw Pacific-Ocean; Southwest Pacific; 1901 Earth and Planetary Sciences (miscellaneous); 1907 Geology; 1908 Geophysics; Antarctic; Pacific; New Zealand; Antarc*
• Online Access: https://espace.library.uq.edu.au/view/UQ:cb69b93

New Zealand has a large and geologically complex marine Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) and extended continental shelf (ECS). Data from approximate to 150 published, unpublished, national and international collections covering >30,000 sediment analyses and observations were compiled and integrated to produce a database (nzSEABED) and series of maps characterising the surficial sediments of the entire New Zealand EEZ-ECS. Sediment grainsize/texture and carbonate distributions show distinct spatial patterns, which can be explained by past and present climate, sea level fluctuations, terrigenous (from the land) sediment flux, tectonics and volcanism, complex bathymetry, oceanography, and diagenesis. The results are compared with previous literature, providing a comprehensive review of the distribution of surficial marine sediments for the New Zealand EEZ-ECS.