Whilst those of us in Wellington may have felt a short jolt and a bit of a wobble, the 7.1 magnitude earthquake hitting Christchurch on Saturday morning was an altogether different experience for the locals. People I have talked to referred to the noise of the quake as being one of the most powerful aspects […]
Scientists’ response to the Canterbury Earthquake Read More »
Another place that I visited in Transylvania was the town of Torda, where there is a huge (1200 metre thick) salt deposit that formed about 18 million years ago. The salt can be found forming the sides of a nearby valley where it has been eroded by rainwater into pinnacles. The salt is 99% pure
On a recent trip to Europe, I spent time in Romania, France and Italy. Here are some of the geological highlights I visited: This photo is an underground glacier in the Apuseni Park. This is an area of the Carpathian Mountains with over 200 limestone caves. The Focul Viu ice cave that we visited is
LEARNZ is a unique kiwi organisation that runs ‘virtual’ field trips for primary and secondary schools in New Zealand. Using videos, audioconferences and internet based information, school kids are able to interact with scientists and other expert professionals in different parts of New Zealand. LEARNZ even runs virtual field trips to Scott Base in Antarctica.
The Wellington Fault with LEARNZ Read More »
Having arrived at Heathrow a few hours before the shutdown of all flights over Britain due to the volcanic eruption in Iceland, it has been fascinating to watch the unfolding impact as the flight ban has been extended through the last few days. As with an earthquake or tsunami, a geological process is suddenly thrown
Under a cloud in the UK Read More »
With Uwe Morgenstern, also from GNS Science I hiked the length of the Tararuas just north of Wellington over 4 days. The Tararua mountains are a section of the ‘backbone’ of New Zealand. They are made of greywacke rock, pushed up by the tectonic forces of plate collision. Like most of New Zealand’s mountains, they
Yesterday I was offered a flight from Paraparaumu Airport to Kaikoura by Felix Morgenstern. His father Uwe is the water and ice dating specialist here at GNS Science. This was a great chance to admire some fantastic landforms created by the uplift of the leading edge of the Australian Tcctonic Plate right up close to
Marlborough and Kaikoura from the air Read More »
Palliser Bay is an isolated sweep of coastline about 2 hours drive from Wellington. It is separated from New Zealand’s busy capital city by the Rimutaka Range. Yesterday I visited the area with a group of Lower Hutt school children as part of their Year Seven geology camp. Fully armed with the “Kiwi Fossils Hunter’s
If you are reading this blog, you presumably like the idea of getting outside and appreciating the landscape and its underlying geological features. James Crampton and Marianna Terezow are paleontologists here at GNS Science. They have just published a great book for fossil enthusiasts called the Kiwi Fossil Hunter’s Handbook. It is full of interesting
Turning over an old leaf with the Fossil Hunter’s Handbook Read More »
Over the last few days I have been with a GNS Science team exploring the remote Mangahouanga Stream in inland Hawkes Bay. This is the area that is famous for the discoveries of dinosaur and other reptile remains by Joan Wiffen (who died in June last year) and her team. It is on private land,
Cretaceous Reptiles in Hawke’s Bay Read More »