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Geology Of The Tasman District
The Tasman region, and the small adjoining Nelson region, form one of the more geologically interesting regions of New Zealand. It contains the oldest rocks of anywhere on New Zealand's main islands. It contains all the main terranes that make up New Zealand's basement. These basement rocks include Ultramafic rocks, such as Serpentine and Dunite, and valuable minerals, such as Gold. The Nelson region is bordered to the south by the Alpine Fault (usually named the Wairau Fault in the Wairau Valley), the main fault forming the boundary between the Pacific Plate and the Indo-Australian Plate, that generated the Southern Alps. Basement rocks The terranes that make up New Zealand's basement are divided up into a Western Province, composed of the Buller and Tākaka terranes, and an Eastern Province, composed of the Brook Street, Murihiku, Dun Mountain–Maitai, Caples, Torlesse composite (Rakaia and Pahau), and Waipapa composite terranes. The Median Batholith forms the bou ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mount Arthur (New Zealand)
Mount Arthur (''Tuao Wharepapa'' in Māori) is in the Wharepapa / Arthur Range in the north western area of the South Island of New Zealand. Mount Arthur, named after Captain Arthur Wakefield, lies within Kahurangi National Park and has a peak elevation of . Geology Mount Arthur is made of hard, crystalline marble, transformed (hardened) from limestone, originally laid down under the sea some 450 million years ago in the Ordovician. The "Arthur Marble" is part of the Takaka Terrane which was part of Gondwana and is similar to rocks in modern-day south-east Australia. Below ground are some of the deepest shafts and most intricate cave systems in the country, and exploration of these is far from finished."Cobb Valley, Mt Arthur, Tablela ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Geology Of New Zealand
The geology of New Zealand is noted for its volcanic activity, earthquakes and Geothermal areas in New Zealand, geothermal areas because of its position on the boundary of the Australian Plate and Pacific Plates. New Zealand is part of Zealandia, a microcontinent nearly half the size of Australia that broke away from the Gondwanan supercontinent about 83 million years ago. New Zealand's early separation from other landmasses and subsequent evolution have created a unique fossil record and modern Environment of New Zealand, ecology. New Zealand's geology can be simplified into three phases. First the basement rocks of New Zealand formed. These rocks were once part of the super-continent of Gondwana, along with South America, Africa, Madagascar, India, Antarctica and Australia. The rocks that now form the mostly submerged continent of Zealandia were then nestled between Eastern Australia and Western Antarctica. Secondly New Zealand drifted away from Gondwana and many sedimentary ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Crown Research Institute
In New Zealand, Crown Research Institutes (CRIs) are corporatised Crown entities charged with conducting scientific research. In January 2025, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon announced plans to merge the existing crown research institutes into three new Public Research Organisations (PROs). History Crown Research Institutes date from 1992, with most formed out of parts of the former Department of Scientific and Industrial Research (DSIR) and of elements of various government departments. The dissolution of the DSIR, along with the government-imposed requirement that the CRIs become "financially viable" and operate on commercial lines, created a certain amount of resentment among some scientists. On 23 January 2025, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon announced that the seven existing CRIs would be merged into three new Public Research Organisations (PRO): *New Zealand Institute for Earth Science (NZIES): the National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research (NIWA), MetService ( ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
GNS Science
GNS Science (), officially registered as the Institute of Geological and Nuclear Sciences Limited, is a New Zealand Crown Research Institute. It focuses on geology, geophysics (including seismology and volcanology), and nuclear science (particularly ion-beam technologies, isotope science and carbon dating). From 1 July 2025 GNS Science will become part of the new Public Research Organisation New Zealand Institute for Earth Science. Functions and responsibilities As well as undertaking basic research, and operating the national geological hazards monitoring network ( GeoNet) and the National Isotope Centre (NIC), GNS Science contracts its services to various private groups (notably energy companies) both in New Zealand and overseas, as well as to central and local government agencies, to provide scientific advice and information. GNS Science has its head office in Avalon, Lower Hutt, with other facilities in Gracefield, Dunedin, Wairakei, Auckland and Tokyo Tokyo, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tākaka Hill
Tākaka Hill, previously also referred to as Marble Mountain, is a range of hills in the northwest of the South Island of New Zealand. Made of marble that has weathered into many strange forms and with numerous sinkholes, it is typical karst country. The marble is Ordovician in age and from the Tākaka terrane. There is only one road winding over and around the flanks of Tākaka Hill, New Zealand State Highway 60, State Highway 60, following the valleys of the Tākaka River to the northwest and the Riuwaka River to the southeast. In July 2020, the name of the pass was officially gazetted as Tākaka Hill Saddle by the New Zealand Geographic Board. It rises to 791 metres at its highest point and separates the coastal communities of Golden Bay / Mohua, Golden Bay from those of the more populous Tasman Bay to the southeast and because of its winding nature isolates Golden Bay from the rest of the South Island. Tākaka Hill is notable for its (now defunct) marble quarry and for many ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Harwoods Hole
Harwoods Hole is a cave system located in the northwest of the South Island of New Zealand, in the Abel Tasman National Park. At , it is New Zealand's deepest vertical shaft. It was first explored in 1958, long after it was discovered. Formation Evidence suggests that run-off from an area of approximately 20 square km converged into a stream that then flowed down a dry valley to create what is now Harwoods Hole. Since then the river appears to have changed course. Subsequently, Harwoods Hole receives water through sinkholes and surrounding dry valleys; this water then percolates through surrounding rock ensuring it becomes saturated with calcite, before entering the cave where the calcite is deposited. This second phase means that rather than expanding, Harwoods Hole is being filled in. History It is one of several important cave systems in Tākaka Hill, between Golden Bay and Tasman Bay. Starting at the surface as a diameter entrance and descending , Harwoods Hole is New Z ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Karamea
Karamea is a town on the West Coast, New Zealand, West Coast of the South Island of New Zealand. It is the northernmost settlement of any real size on the West Coast, and is located northeast by road from Westport, New Zealand, Westport. Apart from a narrow coastal strip, the town of Karamea and its local area are completely surrounded to the south, east and north by Kahurangi National Park. The town is located on the coastal plain adjacent to the Karamea River and the Ōtūmahana Estuary. The town consists of two small settlements, Market Cross and Karamea proper, located about apart. Up the Karamea River are the farming areas of Arapito (on the south bank) and Umere (on the north bank). Karamea is a gateway to the Kahurangi National Park, and provides a base for visitors coming to walk or mountain bike the Heaphy Track, or see popular local attractions such as the Ōpārara Basin, Ōpārara Basin Arches, Ōpārara Arches, the Fenian Track and caves, the Big Rimu Walk and th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Awatere Fault
The Awatere Fault is an active dextral (right lateral) strike-slip fault in the northeastern part of South Island, New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla .... It forms part of the Marlborough fault system, which accommodates the transfer of displacement along the oblique convergent boundary between the Indo-Australian plate and Pacific plate, from the Transform fault, transform Alpine Fault to the Hikurangi Trough Subduction, subduction zone. The 1848 Marlborough earthquake was caused by rupture of the whole of the eastern section of the Awatere Fault. The long Awatere Fault is formed of two main segments; the Molesworth section to the southwest and the Eastern section to the northeast. A further strand links the southwestern end of the Eastern section to the Cl ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Limestone
Limestone is a type of carbonate rock, carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material Lime (material), lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different Polymorphism (materials science), crystal forms of calcium carbonate . Limestone forms when these minerals Precipitation (chemistry), precipitate out of water containing dissolved calcium. This can take place through both biological and nonbiological processes, though biological processes, such as the accumulation of corals and shells in the sea, have likely been more important for the last 540 million years. Limestone often contains fossils which provide scientists with information on ancient environments and on the evolution of life. About 20% to 25% of sedimentary rock is carbonate rock, and most of this is limestone. The remaining carbonate rock is mostly Dolomite (rock), dolomite, a closely related rock, which contains a high percentage of the mineral Dolomite (mine ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mudstone
Mudstone, a type of mudrock, is a fine-grained sedimentary rock whose original constituents were clays or muds. Mudstone is distinguished from ''shale'' by its lack of fissility.Blatt, H., and R.J. Tracy, 1996, ''Petrology.'' New York, New York, W. H. Freeman, 2nd ed, 529 pp. The term ''mudstone'' is also used to describe carbonate rocks (limestone or dolomite) that are composed predominantly of carbonate mud. However, in most contexts, the term refers to siliciclastic mudstone, composed mostly of silicate minerals. The NASA Curiosity rover has found deposits of mudstone on Mars that contain organic substances such as propane, benzene and toluene. Definition There is not a single definition of mudstone that has gained general acceptance,Boggs 2006, p.143 though there is wide agreement that mudstones are fine-grained sedimentary rocks, composed mostly of silicate grains with a grain size less than . Individual grains this size are too small to be distinguished without a micros ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
D'Urville Island (New Zealand)
D'Urville Island (), Māori name ', is the largest island in the Marlborough Sounds, on the northern coast of the South Island of New Zealand. It was named after the French explorer Jules Dumont d'Urville. With an area of approximately , it is the eighth-largest island of New Zealand, and has around 52 permanent residents. The local authority is the Marlborough District Council. History The original Māori name of the island is ''Rangitoto'', meaning "blood red sky" (''rangi'' means sky; ''toto'' means blood). It is an ancient name brought from Hawaiki, the ancestral homeland of the Māori in the Pacific. The name was later lengthened to ''Rangitoto ki te Tonga'', the suffix meaning "of the south", to distinguish it from places in the North Island called ''Rangitoto''. The official name of the island is ''Rangitoto ki te Tonga / D'Urville Island''. The island was a traditional source of argillite (''pakohe'') for Māori, used in the production of stone tools such as adzes dur ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
