The South Coast of Taranaki near Hawera has extensive rocky beaches lined by high crumbling cliffs. It is a great place for geology, but you should be wary of the potential for cliff falls, especially after rain. This is the view east from the Ohawe beach access point. A first look at the cliff from […]
Waihi Beach Taranaki Read More »
Over the last two weeks, GNS Science, with support from the Todd Foundation, the Royal Society of New Zealand, and Puke Ariki Museum in New Plymouth, has been running a hands on immersion geology course for teachers and years 7 to 9 students from 5 Taranaki schools. 24 students and about 10 teachers participated in
Power of the Planet Geocamp in Taranaki Read More »
Earlier this week I was up in Taranaki, exploring the geology of the area with two GNS Science researchers Kyle Bland and Richard Levy. One of the sites we visited was Airedale Reef, a short walk east along the coast from the mouth of the Waitara River. There are spectacular remnants of an ancient forest
Titahi Bay is a great place to visit if you are interested to see some of the geology near Wellington. There are a number of very interesting features to look at and explore. The first thing to check out is the coastal landforms caused by a combination of the atmosphere and the sea, as well
Titahi Bay Geology Read More »
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
Waipatiki Beach north of Napier is a great place for family holidays in the summer. It is enclosed by cliffs at either end that happen to provide one of Hawkes Bay’s many classic geological sites. (for more geological and access information see also www.geotrips.org.nz/trip.html?id=24) A track leading south of the beach takes you to a good view of
This is our last glacier day of the trip. We visited the terminal face of the Fox Glacier, where we again made a short GPS survey, keeping about 10 metres in front of the ice. A large part of the ice front is high and unstable, making it a very hazardous to go near. Following
GNS Science School Glacier Expedition – Fox Glacier Read More »
We packed early, walked down to the road and drove up to Franz Josef for a look at the lower part of the glacier. Brian had two 4 metre ablation stakes which needed to be redrilled and inserted deeper in the ice. We also wanted to record the position of the terminus with the GPS.
School Glacier Expedition – Franz Josef Glacier Read More »
Yesterday was a bad weather day which we spent mainly in the hut. Brian Anderson joined us in the evening. He is a glaciologist at the Antarctic Research Centre at Victoria University Wellington and has been studying the Brewster Glacier for several years. This morning we hiked across to the glacier again. While Brian went
School Glacier Expedition- Brewster Glacier continued… Read More »