Last weekend I went to camp and tramp in the Tama Lakes area on the saddle between Ruapehu and Ngauruhoe. These lakes were created by several explosion craters within the last ten thousand years giving them a circular or crescent form. The landscape is covered with blocks of lava and scoria as well as some […]
Last week I went to Fiordland to meet up with some of the Trustees of the Deep Cove Education Trust. The drive across from Dunedin lead towards some interesting cloud formations, presaging bad weather ahead. Accessed via a 50 minute ferry trip across Lake Manapouri, and then about 20kms of unsealed road, Deep Cove is
Deep Cove in Fiordland Read More »
Last week I was in Hawkes Bay with geologist Kyle Bland, who led a field trip for teachers, students and parents of Crownthorpe School. Hawkes Bay geology is a story of uplift along fault lines, combined with rapid erosion and deposition by rivers flowing from the inland mountain ranges. This story is etched into the
A dynamic landscape in Hawkes Bay Read More »
Last week I visited Palliser Bay in the Wairarapa. Along the coastline there are many exposures of mudstone from the Hurupi Formation, about 11 to 8 million years old. These mudstones contain abundant marine shell fossils, but are also known for occasional whale bones. After some time searching, as luck would have it, I found
GNS Science is very proud to support the NZ ShakeOut earthquake drill on September 26th. Watch the video if you don’t already realise why being aware and prepared for an earthquake is a good idea. The event, which will run right across the country at 9.26am, will prompt all of us to check our plans
NZ ShakeOut – why all New Zealanders should participate Read More »
GNS Science volcanologists recently set up an experiment to test the seismic velocity of the rocks that make up White Island. Over the last few decades it has been New Zealand’s most active volcano and has produced minor eruptions in recent weeks. (For its present activity status click here.) Velocities of seismic waves through the Earth
Artificial Earthquakes on an Active Volcano Read More »
Last week I spent some time on Ruapehu with Bruno Cedat, a french documentary maker who is making a film about the geology and landscapes of New Zealand in collaboration with GNS Science. During the making of his film he has participated in challenging outdoor adventures such as climbing, caving and kayaking in a variety of
Filming on Ruapehu Read More »
Whakataki is a spectacular spot on the Wairarapa coast just north of Castlepoint. It features as one of the localities on our GeoTrips websiteThe shoreline is a large area of tilted rock strata that have been eroded into a broad, flat platform extending for hundreds of metres along the coast. The rock layers are alternating
In 1958, Petroleum Geologist Don Haw was mapping the rocks in the Mohaka river catchment of Western Hawkes Bay. The project was part of a wide ranging exercise to evaluate the hydrocarbon potential of the East Coast basin at that time for BP, Shell and Todd. His discovery of reptile bones in the Cretaceous sediments
NZ’s First Reptile Discoverer returns to Mangahouanga Read More »
Cape Kidnappers and the Clifton Cliffs make for a spectacular geological site in Hawkes Bay. The cliffs extend for several kilometres southwards from Clifton, on the coast near Hastings. They are very high and consist of quite loose rocks, so it is important not to go too close where possible. It is also important to