The Quaternary geology of Chatham Island has been investigated using several different techniques, including: tephrochronology, mineralogy, palynology and stratigraphy; in an attempt to draw together a Quaternary history for the Island. The Quaternary record of Chatham Island comprises mainly deposits from terrestrial environments, predominantly thick blanket peats and aeolian sand, all of which range from latest Castlecliffian to Haweran/Recent in age. Quaternary deposits that demonstratably predate this age range (i.e. > Oxygen Isotope Stage 12) have not been recognised anywhere on the Island. Their absence is, at this stage, attributed to a major marine transgression across much of the northern and central portions of the Island during Oxygen Isotope Stage 11. Two rhyolitic tephra produced during two of the largest eruptions from the Taupo Volcanic Zone are present on Chatham Island. The 27.1 ka Kawakawa Tephra is well preserved across most of the Island, occurring within most pre-Holocene sequences. The 345 ka Rangitawa Tephra, not previously recognised on Chatham Island, is found in a few scattered coastal locations where older, late Castlecliffian sediments are preserved. In the absence of any other forms of radiometric age control these two tephras have provided the principal means for time control within and between stratigraphic sequences on the Island. Palynology has been used predominantly to determine climatic conditions at the time of sediment accumulation. Palynological investigations of seven sections of peat deposits have also demonstrated that cyclic changes in vegetation patterns have occurred throughout the Quaternary on Chatham Island. However these changes have not been as significant as those that occurred on mainland New Zealand over the Quaternary. It is concluded that this indicates climatic deterioration during glacials may not have been as pronounced on Chatham Island as on the mainland. Marine terraces created during former high sea level stands are preserved in several areas on Chatham Island. Quaternary terrace surfaces ranging in age from Last Interglacial (OIS 5e) to OIS 11 occur at heights of 3-5 m, 9 – 10 m, 16 m, 20 m and 30 - 40 m above sea level. An exhumed surface of Late Pliocene age occurs at 7 – 14 m a.s.l.. Terrace ages have been determined using cover-bed stratigraphy, and in particular the presence or absence of tephra marker beds. Height-age relationships of marine terraces have been used to develop preliminary rates of tectonic uplift on Chatham Island. The resulting values range between 0.01 – 0.13 mm/yr and are very low compared with more tectonically active areas of mainland New Zealand. However, there is considerable variation in these rates across Chatham Island, indicating that the tectonic history of the Island over the Quaternary may be complex. This thesis has also demonstrated that considerably more work is required to fully understand the Quaternary history of Chatham Island. In particular, better numerical age control on key deposits; more detailed, high-resolution pollen records from key locations; and obtaining stratigraphic records from a greater range of locations. This is particularly so for the southern uplands where older records are virtually inaccessible due to a thick blanketing of post-glacial peat deposits.

This thesis represents a human history of Tl’chés (Discovery and Chatham Islands) roughly between the mid-19th and mid-20th centuries. It presents Songhees and Settler life on the archipelago, as well as the dispossession of Songhees lands. Detailing processes of colonialism, as well as Songhees resistance to it, this thesis represents a microcosm of colonialism as it unfolded in the lands now called British Columbia. / Graduate

In the late 1980s the endangered Chatham Island oystercatcher (Haematopus chathamensis) (CIO) was estimated at less than 110 individuals. Endemic to the Chatham Islands, New Zealand, it was feared to be declining and, based on existing productivity estimates, in danger of extinction within 50-70 years. These declines were thought to be caused by numerous changes since the arrival of humans, including the introduction of several terrestrial predators, the establishment of marram grass (Ammophila arenaria) which changes dune profiles, and increased disturbance along the coastline. The New Zealand Department of Conservation has undertaken recovery planning and conservation management to increase CIO numbers since the late 1980s. Recovery planning raised some key research questions concerning the population dynamics, habitat selection, and breeding biology of Chatham Island oystercatcher (CIO), and the critical factors currently limiting the population. The objectives of this study were to collect and interpret data on: 1) population size, trends, and distribution across the Chathams, 2) basic breeding parameters, 3) recruitment and mortality rates, 4) habitat selection at the general, territorial and nest-site levels, 5) habitat factors that are correlated with territory quality, and 6) cues that elicit territorial behaviour in CIO.