The 'Little Ice Age' maximum in the Southern Alps, New Zealand: preliminary results at Mueller Glacier

Lichenometric-dating studies using the yellow-green Rhizocarpon subgenus at Mueller Glacier in the region of Mt Cook, Southern Alps, New Zealand, reve al a 'Little Ice Age' maximum about ad 1725/1730. Differences from previous studies are shown to result from different methods, especially the type of mathematical functions used for calculating the lichenometric dating curve s. Previous work also used variable sample sizes, distal moraine slopes, an d, to some extent, different fixed points. Schmidt hammer measurements enab le the differentiation of 'Little Ice Age' from pre-'Little Ice Age' fronta l moraines in the outer glacier foreland and confirm the status of the 'Lit tle Ice Age' as a separate glacier advance among several advances during th e Holocene.