Story: Geology – overview

Jackson Bay in the ice age

Jackson Bay in the ice age

The top photograph is of Jackson Bay in South Westland, with Jackson Head in the foreground. The lower photograph shows how the same location might have looked about 14,000 years ago, near the end of the last ice age. Glacier ice extended down the main valleys, and coalesced to form an ice sheet. All the flat land was submerged by ice. Sea level was about 100 metres lower, so the coastline was further west than it is at present.

Using this item

GNS Science
Reference: CN26858/7
Photograph by Lloyd Homer

Permission of GNS Science must be obtained before any use of this image.

Source: G. Coates and S. Nathan, The Haast landscape. Lower Hutt: Institute of Geological & Nuclear Sciences, 1993.

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How to cite this page:

Eileen McSaveney and Simon Nathan, 'Geology – overview - Quaternary mountains and glaciers', Te Ara - the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, http://www.TeAra.govt.nz/en/photograph/8386/jackson-bay-in-the-ice-age (accessed 27 April 2024)

Story by Eileen McSaveney and Simon Nathan, published 12 Jun 2006