YOUNGER DRYAS AGE ADVANCE OF FRANZ-JOSEF GLACIER IN THE SOUTHERN ALPSOF NEW-ZEALAND

A corrected radiocarbon age of 11,050 +/- 14 years before present for an advance of the Franz Josef Glacier to the Waiho Loop terminal morai ne on the western flank of New Zealand's Southern Alps shows that glac ier advance on a South Pacific island was synchronous with initiation of the Younger Dryas in the North Atlantic region. Hence, cooling at t he beginning of the Younger Dryas probably reflects global rather than regional forcing. The source for Younger Dryas climatic cooling may t hus lie in the atmosphere rather than in a North Atlantic thermohaline switch.