Bitou – this small fishing village is about 70km north of Yilan City. Right next to it is the Bitou Geopark. Here you can take a clifftop walk above steep sandstone cliffs, or descend to the shore platform to see some strange mushroom like features at close quarters Here the shore platform is festooned with […]
Geology of Bitou, Lailai and Beiguan, Taiwan Read More »
To find worthwhile locations that offer great learning opportunities in geology, you have to spend time exploring outcrops, trying to make sense of the geological features that are exposed and then think of ways that students can explore and make sense of them out of their own activity. This inquiry learning process can work well
Geology on the Yilan Coast, Taiwan Read More »
Mangere Mountain, L. Homer / GNS Science Volcanic cones, explosion craters and lava flows form much of Auckland’s natural topography. All of these, apart from one (Rangitoto Island) are from vents that erupted once only (monogenetic), with eruptions lasting a few weeks or months and then ceasing completely. There are many accessible and beautiful locations
This week I have been with Cornel de Ronde and a group of ocean floor researchers applying more of their methods to expand the large amount of research of Lake Rotomahana done over recent years. This is the lake that used to be decorated by the famous Pink and White Terraces. It was excavated by
The Hot Bed of Rotomahana Read More »
On my way back to civilisation from Tama Lakes, I decided to take a detour to visit Saddle Cone, ( GeoTrip page here: www.geotrips.org.nz/trip.html?id=53 ) a small isolated crater on the northern slopes of Ruapehu. You can see the tilted rim of the cone in the centre of the photo: The second image is looking
Climbing Ngauruhoe from the South is well off the tourist route, and involves scrambling up unstable blocks of lava for about 700 vertical metres up the face of the cone. I chose to go up more or less up the centre of the view you can see here, and it took me about an hour
Ngauruhoe’s Far Side 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
Along with biological specimens, the sled brings a lot of rock off the sea floor. Christian Timm sorts through all the samples, cuts some of them up with a rock saw, and packs and labels them to be studied in detail back at GNS Science. The different minerals present in the samples will be analysed