Ridge top peats and paleolake deposits on Macquarie Island

Palynological analyses of two ridge top peat profiles on subantarctic Macquarie Island are presented and discussed. The profiles record Holocene vegetation changes In a small-scale mosaic pattern. Older records of island vegetation should be sought in valley and lake deposits. A preliminary account is given of several freshwater palaeolake deposits dating from the terminal Pleistocene and early Holocene.