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 »
Lake Tutira is a scenic spot on the route between Napier and Wairoa in northern Hawkes Bay. It is in a very rural setting, surrounded by steep hillsides and farmland. The landscape around the lake contains several powerful geological stories. The first is that the hills themselves, made up of rocks that are about 1.8
Lake Tutira – tectonic uplift, ice ages, landslides and cyclones Read More »
Along with Waipatiki, another excellent Hawkes Bay locality for looking at rocks laid down over a cycle of sea level change is Darkeys Spur, about twenty minutes by car west of Lake Tutira. The road is very narrow and care should be exercised to park safely and watch out for vehicles. Fortunately the road is
Darkeys Spur’s rock record of sea level change Read More »
Over the last two weeks, GNS Science, with support from the Todd Foundation, The Royal Society and the National Aquarium in Napier, has been running a ‘Dinosaurs and Disasters Geocamp’ for a group of Hawkes Bay Intermediate level students and teachers. The participants investigated many landforms and cliff sections around Hawkes Bay. GNS Science geologists
Dinosaurs and Disasters Geocamp 2012 Read More »
On our second day in the Maungataniwha Forest, some of us explored the lower Mangahouanga Stream using the well established kiwi river transport method of tyre tubes. This allowed us to visit parts of the river that would otherwise be very difficult to reach. Initial access to the river was via bush bashing through pine
Tyre Tubing the Mangahouanga Stream Read More »
The first barrier to accessing Mangahouanga Stream Three years ago I visited Mangahouanga Stream in Hawkes Bay along with a group of GNS Scientists. This is the area where Joan Wiffen, New Zealand’s famous “Dragon Lady” found the only known bones of dinosaurs from New Zealand, as well as various marine reptiles, prior to her
Reptile Fossils from an Unexplored Valley. Read More »
Last week, following my visit to Castlepoint I also headed further north to Hawkes Bay. State Highway 2 runs parallel to the central North Island mountain ranges, which had just received fresh snow from a recent southerly blast, to provide a classic New Zealand pastoral scene… Te Mata Peak near Havelock North is a popular
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 »