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The Southern Alps (; officially Southern Alps / Kā Tiritiri o te Moana) are a
mountain range A mountain range or hill range is a series of mountains or hills arranged in a line and connected by high ground. A mountain system or mountain belt is a group of mountain ranges with similarity in form, structure, and alignment that have aris ...
extending along much of the length of New Zealand's
South Island The South Island ( , 'the waters of Pounamu, Greenstone') is the largest of the three major islands of New Zealand by surface area, the others being the smaller but more populous North Island and Stewart Island. It is bordered to the north by ...
, reaching its greatest elevations near the range's western side. The name "Southern Alps" generally refers to the entire range, although separate names are given to many of the smaller ranges that form part of it. The range includes the South Island's Main Divide, which separates the water catchments of the more heavily populated eastern side of the island from those on the west coast. Politically, the Main Divide forms the boundary between the
Marlborough Marlborough or the Marlborough may refer to: Places Australia * Marlborough, Queensland * Principality of Marlborough, a short-lived micronation in 1993 * Marlborough Highway, Tasmania; Malborough was an historic name for the place at the sou ...
,
Canterbury Canterbury (, ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and UNESCO World Heritage Site, in the county of Kent, England; it was a county borough until 1974. It lies on the River Stour, Kent, River Stour. The city has a mild oceanic climat ...
and
Otago Otago (, ; ) is a regions of New Zealand, region of New Zealand located in the southern half of the South Island and administered by the Otago Regional Council. It has an area of approximately , making it the country's second largest local go ...
regions In geography, regions, otherwise referred to as areas, zones, lands or territories, are portions of the Earth's surface that are broadly divided by physical characteristics (physical geography), human impact characteristics (human geography), and ...
to the southeast and the Tasman and West Coast regions to the northwest.


Names

The Māori name of the range is , meaning "the
Mirage A mirage is a naturally-occurring optical phenomenon in which light rays bend via refraction to produce a displaced image of distant objects or the sky. The word comes to English via the French ''(se) mirer'', from the Latin ''mirari'', mean ...
of the Ocean". The English explorer
James Cook Captain (Royal Navy), Captain James Cook (7 November 1728 – 14 February 1779) was a British Royal Navy officer, explorer, and cartographer famous for his three voyages of exploration to the Pacific and Southern Oceans, conducted between 176 ...
bestowed the name ''Southern Alps'' on 23 March 1770, admiring their "prodigious height". p. 384. They had previously been noted by
Abel Tasman Abel Janszoon Tasman (; 160310 October 1659) was a Dutch sea explorer, seafarer and exploration, explorer, best known for his voyages of 1642 and 1644 in the service of the Dutch East India Company (VOC). He was the first European to reach New ...
in 1642, whose description of the South Island's west coast is often translated as "a land uplifted high".Orsman, H. and Moore, J. (eds) (1988) ''Heinemann Dictionary of New Zealand Quotations'', Heinemann, Page 629. Following the passage of the
Ngāi Tahu Claims Settlement Act 1998 The Ngāi Tahu Claims Settlement Act 1998 is an act of parliament passed in New Zealand relating to Ngāi Tahu, the principal Māori (tribe) of the South Island. The act's purpose is to settle all of the tribe's claims under the Treaty of Wa ...
, the official name of the range was updated to ''Southern Alps / Kā Tiritiri o te Moana''.


Geography

The Southern Alps run approximately 500 km northeast to southwest. Its tallest peak is Aoraki / Mount Cook, the highest point in New Zealand at . The Southern Alps include sixteen other points that exceed in height (see NZ mountains by height). The mountain ranges are bisected by glacial valleys, many of which are infilled with glacial lakes on the eastern side including Lake Coleridge in the north and Lake Wakatipu in
Otago Otago (, ; ) is a regions of New Zealand, region of New Zealand located in the southern half of the South Island and administered by the Otago Regional Council. It has an area of approximately , making it the country's second largest local go ...
in the south. According to an inventory conducted in the late 1970s, the Southern Alps contained over 3,000
glacier A glacier (; or ) is a persistent body of dense ice, a form of rock, that is constantly moving downhill under its own weight. A glacier forms where the accumulation of snow exceeds its ablation over many years, often centuries. It acquires ...
s larger than one hectare, the longest of which – the Tasman Glacier – is in length which has retreated from a recent maximum of in the 1960s. Settlements include Maruia Springs, a spa near Lewis Pass, the town of Arthur's Pass, and
Mount Cook Village Mount Cook Village, officially Aoraki / Mount Cook, is located within New Zealand's Aoraki / Mount Cook National Park at the end of , only south of the summit of the country's highest mountain, also called Aoraki / Mount Cook, in the Souther ...
. Major crossings of the Southern Alps in the New Zealand road network include Lewis Pass (), Arthur's Pass (), Haast Pass (), and the road to Milford Sound ().


Climate

New Zealand has a humid maritime, temperate climate with the Southern Alps lying perpendicular to the prevailing westerly flow of air. Annual precipitation varies greatly across the range, from at the West Coast, close to the Main Divide, to east of the Main Divide. This high precipitation aids the growth of
glacier A glacier (; or ) is a persistent body of dense ice, a form of rock, that is constantly moving downhill under its own weight. A glacier forms where the accumulation of snow exceeds its ablation over many years, often centuries. It acquires ...
s above the
snow line The climatic snow line is the boundary between a snow-covered and snow-free surface. The actual snow line may adjust seasonally, and be either significantly higher in elevation, or lower. The permanent snow line is the level above which snow wil ...
. Large glaciers and snowfields can be found west of or on the Main Divide, with smaller glaciers farther east (See
Glaciers of New Zealand New Zealand contains many glaciers, mostly located near the Main Divide of the Southern Alps in the South Island. They are classed as mid-latitude mountain glaciers. There are eight small glaciers in the North Island on Mount Ruapehu. An inven ...
). Because of its orientation perpendicular to the prevailing westerly winds, the range creates excellent wave soaring conditions for glider pilots. The town of
Omarama Omarama is a small town (population 291 as of the 2018 census) at the junction of State Highway 8 (New Zealand), State Highways 8 and New Zealand State Highway 83, 83, near the southern end of the Mackenzie Basin, in the South Island of New Ze ...
, in the lee of the mountains, has gained an international reputation for its gliding conditions. The prevailing westerlies also create a weather pattern known as the '' Nor'west arch'', in which moist air is pushed up over the mountains, forming an arch of cloud in an otherwise blue sky. This weather pattern is frequently visible in summer across
Canterbury Canterbury (, ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and UNESCO World Heritage Site, in the county of Kent, England; it was a county borough until 1974. It lies on the River Stour, Kent, River Stour. The city has a mild oceanic climat ...
and
North Otago North Otago is an area in New Zealand that covers the area of the Otago region between Shag Point and the Waitaki River, and extends inland to the west as far as the village of Omarama (which has experienced rapid growth as a developing centre f ...
. The 'Nor'wester' is a
foehn wind A Foehn, or Föhn (, , , ), is a type of dry, relatively warm downslope wind in the lee of a mountain range. It is a rain shadow wind that results from the subsequent adiabatic warming of air that has dropped most of its moisture on windw ...
similar to the Chinook of Canada, where mountain ranges in the path of prevailing moisture laden winds force air upwards, thus cooling the air and condensing the moisture to rain, producing hot dry winds in the descending air lee of the mountains.


Geology

The Southern Alps lie along a geological
plate boundary Plate tectonics (, ) is the scientific theory that the Earth's lithosphere comprises a number of large tectonic plates, which have been slowly moving since 3–4 billion years ago. The model builds on the concept of , an idea developed durin ...
, part of the
Pacific Ring of Fire The Ring of Fire (also known as the Pacific Ring of Fire, the Rim of Fire, the Girdle of Fire or the Circum-Pacific belt) is a tectonic belt of volcanoes and earthquakes. It is about long and up to about wide, and surrounds most of the Pa ...
, with the Pacific Plate to the southeast pushing westward and colliding with the northward-moving Indo-Australian Plate to the northwest. Over the last 45 million years, the collision has pushed up a 20 km thickness of rocks on the Pacific Plate to form the Alps, although much of this has been eroded away. Uplift has been most rapid during the last 5 million years, and the mountains continue to be raised today by
tectonic Tectonics ( via Latin ) are the processes that result in the structure and properties of the Earth's crust and its evolution through time. The field of ''planetary tectonics'' extends the concept to other planets and moons. These processes ...
pressure, causing earthquakes on the Alpine Fault and other nearby faults. Despite the substantial uplift, most of the relative motion along the Alpine Fault is
transverse Transverse may refer to: *Transverse engine, an engine in which the crankshaft is oriented side-to-side relative to the wheels of the vehicle *Transverse flute, a flute that is held horizontally * Transverse force (or ''Euler force''), the tangen ...
, not vertical. However, significant dip-slip occurs on the plate boundary to the north and east of the North Island, in the Hikurangi Trough and Kermadec Trench. The transfer of motion from strike-slip on the Alpine Fault to dip-slip motion at these subduction zones to the north creates the Marlborough Fault System, which has resulted in significant uplift in the region. In 2017 a large international team of scientists reported they had discovered beneath Whataroa, a small township on the Alpine Fault, "extreme" hydrothermal activity which "could be commercially very significant".


Flora

The mountains are rich in flora with about 25% of the country's plant species being found above the treeline in
alpine plant Alpine plants are plants that grow in an alpine climate, which occurs at high elevation and above the tree line. There are many different plant species and taxon, taxa that grow as a plant community in these alpine tundra. These include perennial g ...
habitats and grassland with mountain beech forest at lower elevations (of the eastern side but not in Westland). The cold windswept slopes above the treeline are covered with areas of fellfield. To the east, the Alps descend to the Canterbury-Otago tussock grasslands. Plants adapted to the alpine conditions include woody shrubs like '' Hebe'', '' Dracophyllum'', and ''
Coprosma ''Coprosma'' is a genus of flowering plants in the family Rubiaceae. It is found in New Zealand, Hawaiian Islands, Borneo, Java, New Guinea, islands of the Pacific Ocean to Australia and the Juan Fernández Islands. Description The name ''Copros ...
'', the conifer snow totara ''(Podocarpus nivalis)'' and ''
Carex ''Carex'' is a vast genus of over 2,000 species of grass-like plants in the family (biology), family Cyperaceae, commonly known as sedges (or seg, in older books). Other members of the family Cyperaceae are also called sedges, however those of ge ...
'' sedge grasses.


Fauna

Wildlife of the mountains includes the endemic rock wren ''(Xenicus gilviventris)''. There are also a number of endemic insects adapted to these high altitudes, like flies, moths, beetles, bees, and the mountain stone wētā, which can freeze solid over winter to survive the alpine conditions. The beech forests of the lower elevations are important habitat for several birds, such as the great spotted kiwi ''(Apteryx haastii)'', the South Island
kākā The New Zealand kākā (''Nestor meridionalis'') is a large species of parrot of the family New Zealand parrot, Strigopidae found in New Zealand, New Zealand's native forests across the three main Islands of New Zealand. The species is often kn ...
''(Nestor meridionalis meridionalis)'', and the orange-fronted kākāriki ''(Cyanoramphus malherbi)''. The
kea The kea ( ; ; ''Nestor notabilis'') is a species of large parrot in the Family (biology), family Strigopidae that is endemic to the forested and alpine regions of the South Island of New Zealand. About long, it is mostly olive-green, with br ...
can be found in the forested foothills as well as higher, colder elevations. It is the world's only alpine
parrot Parrots (Psittaciformes), also known as psittacines (), are birds with a strong curved beak, upright stance, and clawed feet. They are classified in four families that contain roughly 410 species in 101 genus (biology), genera, found mostly in ...
, and was once hunted as a pest.


Threats and preservation

The mountains are inaccessible and retain their natural vegetation. A large proportion of the range is well protected by national parks—notably the Westland Tai Poutini National Park, Mount Aspiring National Park, and
Aoraki / Mount Cook National Park Aoraki / Mount Cook National Park is a national park located in the Canterbury Region in the central-west of the South Island of New Zealand. It was established in October 1953 and takes its name from the highest mountain in New Zealand, Aora ...
—or by
protected areas Protected areas or conservation areas are locations which receive protection because of their recognized natural or cultural values. Protected areas are those areas in which human presence or the exploitation of natural resources (e.g. firewoo ...
such as Lake Sumner Forest Park. Indigenous plant life is affected by introduced animals such as
red deer The red deer (''Cervus elaphus'') is one of the largest deer species. A male red deer is called a stag or Hart (deer), hart, and a female is called a doe or hind. The red deer inhabits most of Europe, the Caucasus Mountains region, Anatolia, Ir ...
(''Cervus elaphus''),
chamois The chamois (; ) (''Rupicapra rupicapra'') or Alpine chamois is a species of Caprinae, goat-antelope native to the mountains in Southern Europe, from the Pyrenees, the Alps, the Apennines, the Dinarides, the Tatra Mountains, Tatra to the Carpa ...
(''Rupicapra rupicapra''), and
Himalayan tahr The Himalayan tahr (''Hemitragus jemlahicus'') is a large even-toed ungulate native to the Himalayas in southern Tibet, northern India, western Bhutan and Nepal. It is listed as Near Threatened on the IUCN Red List, as the population is declini ...
(''Hemitragus jemlahicus''), all of which have at times been targeted for culling. Likewise, native birds and reptiles are vulnerable to introduced predators.


Panoramic view


References


External links

* {{Westland landforms Mountain ranges of Fiordland Mountain ranges of the Canterbury Region Mountain ranges of the West Coast Region Montane grasslands and shrublands