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Understanding past sea levels is essential to respond to the challenges of climate change. In the Pacific and Tasman, sea level has been up to 1.5 m higher during the mid-Holocene, similar to the predictions of some global warming models. Within New Zealand the knowledge of sea-level movements, especially during the recent past is poor, with the last major investigation being conducted 20 years ago. This paper reviews the state of local understanding of higher sea levels and suggests regions for further study and new methods of analysis to understand the nature of sea-level change in New Zealand. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Tasman Glacier is the largest glacier in New Zealand. Although 20th century warming caused down-wastage, it remained at its Little Ice Age terminus until the late 20th century. Since then, rapid calving retreat ( U) has occurred, allowing a large (5.96 × 10 m) proglacial lake to form (maximum depth ∼240 m). From sequential satellite image analysis and echo sounding of Tasman Lake, we document ( U) from 2000 to 2008. U varies temporally, with mean U of 54 m/a from 2000 to 2006 and a mean U of 144 m/a from 2007 to 2008. Consistent with global data sets, calving rate appears closely associated with lake depth at the calving terminus. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]