U-M 2009 New Zealand Geology Field Trip

Group's "Best of" Photo Album

2009-09-11T02:34:00.005+12:00

Everyone from the field-trip is invited to post their 10-20 favourite photos from our journey through New Zealand in a Group Photo Album. (A slide-show from the photos posted so far is displayed in the gadget above.) Each participant should have received an email invite from Picasa, which contained a link for editing the group album to add photos; if you didn't, then let me know.

Wrap-up

2009-09-04T18:09:00.000+12:00

A fantastic trip comes to an end...

Christchurch

2009-09-04T17:37:00.000+12:00

Elephant Rocks

2009-09-04T12:14:00.000+12:00

Lunch!

Anatini Fossil Whale Site

2009-09-04T11:39:00.000+12:00

Pillow Basalts

2009-09-04T10:38:00.000+12:00

Weathered

Old Rifle Butts

2009-09-04T08:27:00.000+12:00

Megan Ortega tells us about the depositional history of the Miocene in
this area. Great examples of brachipod beds and oncoliths.

Kaiki Lighthouse

2009-09-03T19:26:00.001+12:00

Seals and Yellow-Eyed Penguins

Moeraki Boulders

2009-09-03T19:14:00.001+12:00

Met up with former UM grads Megan and Jesse Ortega at Moerakai Boulders, who are now at the University of Ortago. The boulders are massive spherical concretions.

Aquarium

2009-09-03T15:18:00.001+12:00

Spent a great couple hours on a guided, hands-on tour at the aquarium at University of Otago's Portobello Marine Laboratory. Lots of interesting facts and stories from our guide, as well as numerous live demonstrations of predator versus prey! Nice to see live versions of what we study in rocks, and learn about their life-cycles and feeding habits.

Taiaroa Head

2009-09-03T12:02:00.002+12:00

Stewart Island Shags and Northern Royal Albatross colonies at Taiaroa Head. Its the time of the year when the albatross chicks are leaving their nests for several years at-sea before they return home to socialize and start breeding. We saw three albatross chicks who were mostly napping while we were there, though they make for quite impressively sized "chicks"; their parents were out looking for food. Other chicks had already taken off and left the colony earlier this week, and soon other adults will be returning to start the breeding season anew.

Tunnel Beach

2009-09-03T09:40:00.001+12:00

Thwarted! Its lambing season, and the trail to Tunnel Beach passes through private pasture land. To keep the sheep from being disturbed at this important time, the trail is closed at this time of year. Its interesting to note that on the North Island we were seeing lambs everywhere in the paddocks, whereas we've seen very few on the South Island, especially over the last couple days; just as one would expect with Spring a bit further off as we moved to higher, more southerly latitudes.

Good Morning

2009-09-03T07:45:00.001+12:00

Our backpackers lodge is situated on a hill, just up from the
"Octagon", the city center, so we saw a very nice sunrise this
morning. Unfortunately the sun went behind the clouds shortly
thereafter, and now it's starting to drizzle.

Leaving this morning should be fun, as the street in front is worthy
of Lombard Street in San Francisco. Walking down the aisle of the bus
to get off last night was a bit like skiing downhill; today it will be
a mountain climbing expedition to get on-board and a luge ride down to
the Octagon.

Dunedin

2009-09-02T22:43:00.001+12:00

Dunedin puts us back in our first major urban area since Wellington,
though finding internet here late at night has neen a challenge.
Ingrid had to resort to a McDonalds for her AGU abstract submission.

Were planning a late start tomorrow so that we can organize a new
agenda, as we were expecting to be starting from Te Anau.

Fossil Whale Lookout

2009-09-02T17:28:00.000+12:00

Mitchells Cottage

2009-09-02T14:10:00.000+12:00

Great example of early 19th century stone architecture (schist).

Clyde Dam

2009-09-02T12:36:00.000+12:00

Old Cromwell

2009-09-02T12:13:00.001+12:00

All that's left of old Cromwell above the waterline after the Clyde Dam was worked on during the 70's thru the 90's, finally being flooded out in the early 90's. Old buildings were moved here to preserve something of the original town. Very strong opinions about whether the dam was a good idea or not; it was clearly rushed through with inadequate planning and geologic/environmental studies, given the number of problems they have to subsequently address.

Nevis Bluff

2009-09-02T11:33:00.000+12:00

Intrusions in schist.

Group Photo

2009-09-02T10:20:00.002+12:00

For all of you melting in the heat back in Michigan...

Snow

2009-09-02T09:29:00.001+12:00

Were back on the road to Queenstown, but we have snow, rather than
rain today.

No Milford

2009-09-02T08:22:00.001+12:00

After 50cm of snow last night -- and it's still falling -- we won't be
heading over to Milford today. Instead, eastwards to Dunedin as our
destination.

AGU Abstract Deadline Approaching!

2009-09-01T23:21:00.000+12:00

Carla submits the first of several AGU abstracts planned by field trip
participants!

Miscellaneous Photos - 1

2009-09-01T23:06:00.006+12:00

Some miscellaneous photos from earlier in the trip: Hope Fault landscape; mountain influenced clouds at Kiakoura; Ingrid Hendy and Chris Hendy; the group at Franz Josef Glacier.

What's on the Tube?

2009-09-01T21:16:00.005+12:00

When you walk into a place for dinner, and everyone is facing the television watching the weather report, then you know something unusual is going on. Apparently the national weather person was in town doing the weather report from down the street. But also of interest, however, was the fact that he was supposed to be doing it from Milford Sound, where we would like to get to tomorrow. The current snowy conditions and a small mud-slide have closed the road for now though. Odds on it being open tomorrow were given as 50-50. We also learned that this is the wettest its been around here at this time of year in the last ten years. If the road doesn't re-open tomorrow, then we'll move on from Te Anau (where we are tonight and were planning to round-trip from tomorrow), and we'll have to skip Milford sound, the fjord geology, and our water-sampling boat trip. Instead we'll view some more of the geology traveling eastward across Southland and spending the night in Dunedin. We'll decide tomorrow morning, after we get the official word on the road at 7:30am...

Nearing Te Anau

2009-09-01T17:17:00.001+12:00

Been a long day of driving, and it's been raining on and off, so we
haven't seen much this afternoon out the bus's foggy windows. We're
almost to Te Anau where we are spending the night

Lunch in Wanaka

2009-09-01T13:42:00.002+12:00

A very windy lunch in Wanaka!

Mount Iron

2009-09-01T12:04:00.001+12:00

360-degree view of a variety of glacial features and history.

Lake Hawea Moraine

2009-09-01T11:55:00.001+12:00

Rain and Waterfalls

2009-09-01T11:46:00.003+12:00

The forecast is pretty wet/snowy the next couple of days. We probably won't be going to Milford sound because the pass is currently closed. May substitute a south coast route instead. This morning we crossed the Alpine fault right after breaking "camp", we are descending past spectacular waterfalls and gorges along the Haarst River: Thunder Falls, Gates of Haarst, and Fantail Falls.

Fran Josef Glacier

2009-08-31T18:43:00.000+12:00

Great views of the glacier and related geologic features! Too much
recent rain, causing high river levels, to get get any closer to the
base of the glacier.

Origins of Life

2009-08-31T09:47:00.001+12:00

Barrytown Placers

2009-08-31T09:36:00.001+12:00

High tide and strong winds have conspired to block access to the
placers to which we were headed. Also a good view of Greenland Group
forming headlands.

End of Day 8

2009-08-30T22:14:00.000+12:00

A happy, dry, well-fed cleaning crew after dinner at Tu Nikau Retreat.

Punakaiki

2009-08-30T17:36:00.001+12:00

The weather was very windy and rainy, however, the pancake rocks and blowholes were still very impressive.

Reefton

2009-08-30T15:37:00.001+12:00

The storms have caught up with us again. We're altering our agenda a
bit to try and avoid getting too soaked.

Evison's Wall

2009-08-30T13:55:00.001+12:00

Testing the Alpine Fault for creep.

Alpine fault

2009-08-30T10:01:00.000+12:00

Pull apart basin

Adelphi Lodge

2009-08-29T20:58:00.001+12:00

It's unusually warm here. Not as much snow up on the mountains, and
gusts to nearly 200km/hr earlier today in town, though very calm out now.

Grocery shopping done. Next several meals sorted and boxed up. Now just boiling water for eggs, and enjoying the extensive Far Side collection decorating the kitchen area.

K-T Boundary at Woodside Creek

2009-08-29T16:53:00.001+12:00

Fantastic!

Saltworks

2009-08-29T15:27:00.001+12:00

Karl's Welcome Song

2009-08-29T14:26:00.003+12:00

Audio of Karl's welcoming song.

Picton

2009-08-29T13:31:00.002+12:00

South Island

2009-08-29T13:31:00.001+12:00

Goodbye Wellington

2009-08-29T10:41:00.001+12:00

Waiting for the Ferry

2009-08-29T09:47:00.000+12:00

Well be sailing on the Arahura.

Back to Geology

2009-08-29T06:58:00.002+12:00

After a day of exploring Wellington and its many attractions, folks having a bit of a lie-in before we head off to meet the ferry and resume the geology portion of the trip. Site-seeing for many yesterday included a visit to Te Papa, the Museum of New Zealand national museum. Its exhibitions and displays are wide-ranging and very engaging, from geology and hazards to the history of native and non-native flora and fauna to the history of Maori and later European settlers to art to Formula 1 racing, and much more. Another popular trip was a ride on the Wellington Cable Car up to the Botanical Garden. Though it is winter here, the gardens still have a lot plants in bloom, but the mild climate certainly helps. The typical harbingers of Spring, like daffodils we're also out, as they have been along much of our route. Hiking to the top of Mt. Victoria provided panoramic views of the city and surrounding country-side. Students also provided some economic stimulus to the local economy, picking up gifts for those back home, replacing lost or forgotten travel items, and stocking up on snacks for the coming days; someone needs to start making chicken-thyme-lemon potato chips in the States. My own favourite find of the day, besides the chips, was the display on Campbell-Stokes Sunshine recorders (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Campbell-Stokes_recorder) at the Cable Car Museum.

Wellignton Rocks - 5.2

2009-08-28T07:04:00.008+12:00

Last night we got to experience our first New Zealand Earthquake, a 5.2. Many of us are on higher floors in our accomodations, so we were woken by some brief, but noticeable swaying and shaking. For more details on the earthquake:
http://www.geonet.org.nz/earthquake/quakes/3145159g.html
Our NZ GeoNet "Felt It!" report:
Submitted Fri, 28 Aug 2009 at 07:42
Time and date of the earthquake Fri, 28 Aug 2009 at 02:10
The location where the earthquake was felt 58 Tory Street, Wellywood Backpackers, Wellignton
Where were you at the time of the earthquake? Indoors
What was the built environment? Business/industrial
What were you doing when the earthquake occurred? Sitting/Lying
How would you best describe the shaking? A jolt or mild, but unmistakably an earthquake
Please select the type of building or structure: Multi-storey building
If you were in a multi-storey building, what floor were you on? Fifth Level
If you were in a multi-storey building, what is the total number of storeys? Six
Did hanging objects sway? Don't know/Not applicable
Did objects such as glasses, dishes, ornaments or other small shelf items rattle, topple over or fall off shelves? Don't know/Not applicable
Were cupboard or appliance doors thrown open? Don't know/Not applicable
Did any small items of furniture, appliances (such as TV, computer, microwave) or light machinery slide (not just sway) or topple over? No
Did any large fixtures, appliances (such as fridge, stove or filing cabinet) or heavy machinery slide (not just sway) or topple over? No
Check which services failed, if any:
Was there any damage to the building itself, the hot water cylinder, chimneys or exterior water tanks? Don't know/Not applicable

Wellywood

2009-08-27T21:07:00.000+12:00

Catching up on email at tonight's accomodations, Wellywood. Tommorow
is a free day for the students to explore around town, do laundry,
etc. The day after we cross by ferry to the south island, and resume
our geologic (and otherwise) journey!

Accretionary Wedge

2009-08-27T17:35:00.000+12:00

Meteorology

2009-08-27T17:33:00.001+12:00

Lenticular clouds forming over the bay between the ranges.

Cape Turkirae

2009-08-27T17:30:00.001+12:00

Earthquake elevated beaches and more terraces.

2009-08-27T12:45:00.000+12:00

Lunch - Paraparaumu

2009-08-27T12:05:00.000+12:00

A lot of driving to get down to Weellington and some rocks. Quick
break for lunch along the coast in Paraparaumu.

Terrace Overview

2009-08-27T09:58:00.000+12:00

Kai Iwi

2009-08-27T09:57:00.001+12:00

Marine terraces. Sand composition.

Real-time geology. See before and after photos of cliff collapsing on
beach just down from us. (We were a safe distance away from the
overhanging material, of course.)

Wanganui - End of Day 4

2009-08-26T20:37:00.002+12:00

Relaxing for the evening at Tamara Lodge in Wanganui.

Rangitiki wangaui

2009-08-26T17:34:00.001+12:00

Pliocene carbonates.

Tangiwai Lahar

2009-08-26T15:14:00.001+12:00

Tangiwai railroad disaster in 1953 and site of two-year old lahar.

Mt Ngarahoe

2009-08-26T14:39:00.000+12:00

Mt. Doom

Huka Falls

2009-08-26T10:21:00.001+12:00

Institute of Geological and Nuclear Sciences

2009-08-26T10:06:00.000+12:00

At GNS we visited with Sarah Milicich, a former student of Chris's.
She provided an overview of her work as a geologist working geothermal
projects, primarily as a consultant to the energy firms running the
geothermal energy plants in the area. A great introduction for
students to what "real" geologists do for a living; some field time,
analytical work (micrscope time mostly), and a lot of report writing.

Geotthermal plants here produce 9% of the power comsumed by all of NZ
during the day. At night, since you cannot turn geothermal plants
off, like hydro or fossil fuels, it goes up to nearly 100%.

Also learned a bit about how these gornment setup, but commercial
institutes operate. They are driven by the often competing needs of
producing profits and doing research.

Groceries

2009-08-25T19:54:00.000+12:00

Shopping for groceries not much different than a US big box store.

Orakei Korako

2009-08-25T17:53:00.001+12:00

After lunch we Spent a few hours exploring the gysers, terraces, hot springs, mud pits and caves at Orakei Korako. A great opportunity to discuss gyser physics and geothermal fields' chemistry, biology, and mineralogy. Including a stop in the secret sauna cave.
In a "small world" moment we were astounded to bump into Chris Smith, a U-M geo alum, who just happened to be on a witgeology tour of New Zealand a different group. They were just leaving as we arrived in the ferry parking lot.

Fossilized Fumeroles

2009-08-25T17:45:00.000+12:00

Quarry

2009-08-25T11:57:00.001+12:00

Ignimbrite quarry. Also paleo-river valley.

Arapuni Dam

2009-08-25T11:54:00.001+12:00

Built in ignimbrites in 1927

Pohara Marae

2009-08-25T11:35:00.001+12:00

Day two ended at Pohara Marae, a Maori settlement nearby
Maungatautari, with a series of fascinating cultural experiences,
including a traditional Maori welcome ceremony. Wiki, our guide from
the ecological reserve and a resident of the Marae, led us through the
ceremony. It began with us entering through their gate, as greatings
and thanks were sung, and we were lead to a special seating area. The
marae hosts and our group sat opposite one another and exchanged group
introductions and songs. It began with the host leader welcoming us
to the marae (in Maori), followed by our leader (Chris Hendi taking
the role) introducing our group and thanking the hosts. Next the Maori
group sang us their welcoming song, and we returned by sharing a song
from our culture, a rendetion of "Hail to the Victors". (Note for next
field trip: remind students to bring rock hammers, hand lenses, AND
learn the words to their own school's fight song!) The ceremony ended
with the traditional shaking of hands and rubbing of noses (hongi)
among everyone, followed by a short tea.

Individual introductions followed later on in the communal sleeping
hall, where our group was bedded down for the night. After that, some
handy lanuage lessons and Maori history were shared, and then we all
got together for dinner.

The night also provided a chance for many folks to get their first
view of the Southern skies. (It was too cloudy and rainy the first
night.) The marae is in a rural area so the Milky Way in it's southern
exposure, with the Magellantic Clouds, was easily viewable. As was the
Southern Cross, and many constellations we associate with Northern
Hemisphere winter.

Wiki

Maungatautari Ecological Preserve

2009-08-25T11:34:00.000+12:00

Restoration of native flora and fauna by pest elimination and fencing
(Xtruder fence).

Ruakuri Cave

2009-08-24T18:48:00.001+12:00

We spent a fantastic couple hours underground this morning in Ruakuri
Cave. Very pristine setting, with evidence of both active formation
and dissolution. The glowworms (Arachnocampa) were a highlight with
their delicate silk threads set from the ceiling to catch prey. They
illuminated some ceilings like constellations of stars in the night
sky. The rafting on the stream flowing through the cave looks
interesting for next time.

J's Backpackers

2009-08-24T07:14:00.001+12:00

Breakfast

2009-08-24T06:41:00.000+12:00

Everyone is up bright and early for breakfast at J Backpacks!

End of Day 1

2009-08-23T20:49:00.000+12:00

An exciting first day in New Zealand was topped off with a fantastic
diner at the Hendi household in Hamilton. By the end of the evening
jet lag had started to catch up with a lot of folks, so dinner was low-
key, and we headed quickly to our accomodations shortly after dessert.
Tomorrow we need to be on the road by 7:30am, but jet lag will likely
be working in our favour then, and I bet we'll have plenty of early
risers.

Mine

2009-08-23T20:25:00.000+12:00

Jacob Croall provided a great tour of Newmont's operations at the
Martha Hill Mine. Much emphasis was placed on the safety of the
cyanide-leaching proccess in use here, and on the high-level of
environmental safety for the whole operation.

Miranda Bird Sanctuary

2009-08-23T14:27:00.000+12:00

Along the Miranda coast we walked extensive shellbanks (chenier
ridges) and discussed their formation and surrounding mudflat-mangrobe
ecosystem. Followed by lunch and a talk by Keith Woodley on migratory
birds at the Miranda Bird Sancutary. Most everyone found the NZ-China-
Alaska migration pathway of shorebirds like the bar-tailed goblet
fascinating; crossing vast stretches of the pacific in single hops of
8 days and burning off half it's body weight. Keith's alternative
explanations of the origin of the wrybills sideways-curving beak were
entertaing as well; jet-lag may have contributed to some belief in
their bending them by colliding with the cliffs at the head of the
firth as juvinelles (rather than an adaption to picking food from
under rocks in braided river systems.)

First Stop

2009-08-23T10:42:00.001+12:00

One Tree Hill and an overview of Auckland and it's volcanic and
cultural history.

Arrival

2009-08-23T09:12:00.001+12:00

Flight on time. All safely arrived in Auckland and met up with
Ingrid's parents and crew. Reshuffling luggage now to get a day bag
for the vehicles and putting the rest in trailers. Then off of to the
first stop only a bit behind schedule!

Waiting

2009-08-23T07:27:00.000+12:00

Despite my best efforts in Wyoming and Texas, I still didn't quite
make the switch to Kiwi time yet. I was up at 4am Auckland time.
Fortunately the hotel here serves complimentary breakfast starting at
3am! So I enjoyed that and a stroll around the industrial estate the
hotel is in the middle of by the airport. Not much going on early
Sunday morning here. According to the web the group's flight is still
ontime, so it's off, back to airport now for me, and time to get this
field trip started!

Apologies in advance if there are days not too much is posted. This a
geology trip after all, and the best rocks aren't always where
Internet is readily available :)

Auckland

2009-08-22T17:49:00.003+12:00

Arrived in Auckland. Flight in over the coast was spectacular with the evening sun illuminating the mountains and cliffs in high contrast. Checked in to the Ventura Inn near the airport, so I can easily get back to the airport in the morning to meet up with everyone. Hopefully their travels are going well. The trans-Pacific portion of their flight should, I believe, be departing from Los Angeles in just an hour or two. Meanwhile, I'm off to find some to track down some dinner; looked like we went by some curry places on the free shuttle ride to the hotel from the airport.

Third Leg

2009-08-22T10:09:00.001+12:00

Arrived a half-hour early in Sydney. Great early morning view of of
the beaches, harbour, and city coming in. Read up on New Zealand
geology during the fourteen-and-a-half hour flight. Tucking in to a
sausage roll and flat white for breakfast.

If the custom line shortens, then I might even step outside the
terminal to enjoy some fresh air. I've got just under fours hours
before the flight to Auckland.

Second Leg

2009-08-21T13:55:00.003+12:00

Arrived a bit late at LAX, but still have four hours to kill. Perhaps enough time to visit the iconic Theme Building and grab diner in the Encounter Restaurant, even though it's still a scaffolding-obscured view. Unfortunately the observation deck is still closed, but the sign says it will finally reopen this Fall.

First Leg

2009-08-21T07:22:00.003+12:00

The first leg of the trip to Auckland is off to a rocky start. Stuck at Detroit Metro waiting for an inbound aircraft delayed by the weather, but its sunny out now, and with a five hour layover at LAX, I shouldn't be in trouble... yet... At least I found my winter wool sweater, hat, and gloves.

Packing

2009-08-20T17:05:00.002+12:00

Just returned from a trip to TAMU -- on the heels of helping GS-440 out with Atlantic City (Wyoming, not New Jersey) -- and now I am busy preparing for the geology field trip to New Zealand and the upcoming AuSakai'09 Conference in Australia. College Station was quite hot and humid, but its winter time in New Zealand, so I'll need to pack a bit differently for this trip! I have to figure out where I put away various winter clothes earlier this year. Not to mention locating my power plug adapters and all that leftover change from last year's trip to the Southern Hemisphere...