Early Miocene magnetostratigraphy and a new palaeomagnetic pole position from New Zealand

Abstract

We report palaeomagnetic results from a 26.5 m sequence of early Miocene sediments in NW Nelson, New Zealand. Analysis of the strong, stable characteristic component of natural remanent magnetization has yielded an important record of the part of Chron 5 from ca. 18.5 to 16.5 Ma, including positive identification of the cryptochron or "tiny wiggle" C5Dr-1, and a pole position (λp = 78.4°; φp = 283.0°; dp = 2.2°; dm = 2.8°) for NW Nelson that is indistinguishable from the contemporaneous published pole for the Australian Plate. We infer that this portion of NW Nelson has undergone negligible rotation with respect to the main part of the Australian Plate over the past 17.5 Myr. Copyright © The Society of Geomagnetism and Earth, Planetary and Space Sciences (SGEPSS).