alpine fault tectonic plates

Associate Professor Steven Kidder, a geologist at The City College of New York, described a landscape covered with forests of a completely different composition to those we know today. Found insideThis book provides a complete Phanerozoic story of palaeogeography, using new and detailed full-colour maps, to link surface and deep-Earth processes. Photo / Supplied, “Our discovery therefore raises questions such as how did the Alpine Fault actually evolve from narrow zones of deformation to a wide one. Typically, over any thousand-year period one side of the fault will move about 27m in relation to the other side in three separate large earthquakes. Looking at the intensity maps of the September earthquake, the accelerations were actually quite modest in the eastern suburbs, but there was still extenive damage. The Alpine fault is connected to the Hikurangi Trench by the Hope fault, which has several branches, and there is a good chance of the Hope Fault going at any time with a quake of about M7.5, (The last big one was in 1888, but only on a portion of the fault.) Tectonic plates and faults are similar with only difference being in the scale. was is subduction ? In this new book, geologist Glen Coates joins with the artist and author Geoffrey Cox to tell how the Alps were formed from ancient marine sediments, how they were uplifted to become mountains, and how they are being eroded down to produce ... The new findings have shed new light on some of the first stages of the fault, at a time the Southern Alps hadn't yet risen from the . The starting point (hard to find from the home page) is http://mtaspiring.school.nz/Tephra/Thehowwhatandwhereofanearthquake.htm  (Alternatively, search Google using the terms  ‘Mt Aspiring’ and ‘earthquake’.) Well illustrated. No index. Also published in Pageoph v.145, no.3/4. Annotation copyright by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR Answer to: Is the Alpine Fault convergent, divergent, or transform? Wellington’s recent Magnitude 4.7   earthquake on 4 March 2011 was actually on the Pacific Plate lying underneath the Indo-Australian Plate at about 30 km depth. Plate boundaries are very large fault zones where opposite sides either move away from each other o. Keith, cheers for that info most of it i knew already. The faults that are causing so much trouble in Christchurch,(i.e. I have spoken to a number of geologists and others, and there appears to be a growing concern generally of a much larger event, which is why only remedial work is being done on buildings as opposed to new construction. We are well prepared in our household so all we can do is hope we never have to use our emergency kit. The Alpine Fault is where two great tectonic plates (the Pacific and Australian) plates collide. This helped with an exam. But in the prehistoric period to which scientists have been able to reach back to, between 20 and 25 million years ago, the fault ran through the great low . Young ... By Meg Parsons and Lara Taylor for The Conversation Our moana (ocean) is in a state of unprecedented ecological crisis. The September 4 earthquake, however, did not occur on the Alpine Fault. The faultline is estimated . This assessment was based on the known effects of the 1855 Wellington /Wairarapa earthquake, plus the high visibility of major fault lines. No one seems to have writen anything about whether or not the Christchurch earthquake will have a flow on effect to us here. The Alpine Fault runs for over 800km up the spine of the South Island. The scientists estimated that the xenoliths, discovered near Wanaka, were erupted out of the Earth about 23 million years ago – around the same time the Alpine Fault was in its infancy. I also think that south of Christchurch (say Timaru) is somewhat safer than to the north of Christchurch. They each mark a boundary between two plates - if you walk across the San Andreas fault you pass from the Pacific Plate to the American Plate; over the Alpine Fault, from the Pacific to the Australian Plate. In this thesis, I present structural, kinematic, and stress inversion data from the Darran Range in northern Fiordland, New Zealand. as the tectonic plates collide. “Deformed mantle xenoliths like those we observed have only been described at seven other locations worldwide.”. Found inside – Page 702... tectonic plates in New Zealand Tectonic plate Minimum (mm/year) Pacific À1 Australian À16 especially along the Southern Alps and the Alpine Fault could ... This is the most likely explanation for the Banks Peninsula volcanoes. The third edition of this widely acclaimed textbook provides a comprehensive introduction to all aspects of global tectonics, and includes major revisions to reflect the most significant recent advances in the field. That is certainly the case for the Waitaki catchment and I presume also further south. During the last 1000 years, the Alpine Fault has fractured four times, at intervals of about 150-350 years. I doubt whether there is a direct connection between the Christchurch faults and the faults off the Kaikoura Coast, although of course they are both part of the tectonic battle between the Pacific and the Indo-Australian Plates. However, what do you think on the Alpine Fault after all these years? It forms a transform boundary between the Pacific Plate and the Indo-Australian Plate. New Zealand sits upon the ancient, and only recently recognised, continent of Zealandia. So this is indicative of plate movement and faults, but not of volcanoes, which require magma to well up from much greater depths where all the rocks are in liquid form. Scientists have revealed the earliest-known stirrings of New Zealand's big-risk Alpine Fault, in a study that could hold implications for plate tectonics globally. The Australian plate is sliding horizontally towards the north-east, at the same time as the Pacific plate is pushing up, forming the Southern Alps. Similar to the Napier earthquake that was precipitated by the Buller earthquake and then followed by two greater than 7 magnitude quakes in Paihiatua and the Wairarapa. In the zone between the subduuction zones there is lots of twisting and buckling and the surface platelets get moved around in different directions. Essentially the experts can only hypothosise on likely outcomes with complete uncertainy! Typically, each major earthquake on the Alpine Fault is of Magnitude 8 or greater. But these earthquakes tend to be at considrable depth (where the Indo plate is slipping under the Pacific Plate) and this dampens the effect for Invercargill. I can understand that mentality to an extent, I would suggest that having full information is better than the complacency that was starting to set in until the most recent event (many seemed to think that nearly 6 months was enough, and there is a distinct lack of understanding around aftershock cycles and geological timeframes that need better explanation to the public, e.g. Change ). ( Log Out /  Just one thing: when you say that the plate fractured within itself in the Christchurch Earthquake, is this called a ‘fault’. Over the last 4,000 years the fault has ruptured more than 20 times, Mr Howarth says. Thank you for your post. It is sometimes claimed that all earthquakes occur on pre-existing faults, But I don’t think that has to be the case. I am old enough to recall the 1960 Tsunami that headed our way from Chile as my school was evacuated to the Port Hills where we proceeded to make huts in the lines of trees called the “Catapillars”. Found inside – Page 437Keywords thrust faulting; tectonics; Fraser Fault; Alpine Fault; ... surface expression of the boundary between the Pacific and Indian tectonic plates. Karen, In contrast, on the eastern side of the major fault we have the Hikurangi Trench and the Kermadec Trench. One of the sobering facts of the latest earthquake of June 13, is that the epicentre is so close to the February 22 earthquake. A great explaination with noble intentions; informing the lay people as to what the heck is going on! The study comes after new evidence gleaned from past earthquake behaviour led scientists to revise the chances of a major Alpine Fault rupture within the next 50 years from 30 per cent to 75 per cent. See Details: Possums of freshwater: Invasive koi carp stopped from accessing local lake, See Details: New plastic bans target hard-to-recycle cutlery, meat trays, takeaway containers, See Details: Local Focus: A celebration of all things volunteer, See Details: 'Spider apocalypse' hits Victoria after heavy rains, floods, See Details: Plastic bead mystery: Rena shipwreck suspected to be behind continued pollution at Tairua, See Details: School Strike 4 Climate Auckland declares itself racist and disbands, See Details: Why Indigenous knowledge should be an essential part of how we govern the world's oceans, See Details: Leak reported at Chinese nuclear plant; Hong Kong 'closely watching'. Thanks, and once again great article. At least there are no Aussie snakes anywhere in the Shakey Isles! The minty green rock is on the Pacific Plate and is Ultra-Caticlastite, and the lower brien material is glacial gravels which overlie the Australian Plate. YouTube / GNS Science. I doubt whether there will now be a major quake between the two faults, given that over the last few months there have been plenty of aftershocks on an approximate line between the two quakes, and this should have released tension. Scientists have revealed the earliest-known stirrings of New Zealand's big-risk Alpine Fault, in a study that could hold implications for plate tectonics globally. Given this information I can now see why the powers to be have a conundrum of mammoth proportions in deciding which way to move forward for the best. P. The reality is that none of us, including the supposed experts, can predict what will happen next. Along this Alpine Fault – which actually lies some distance from the high mountain peaks  and well down on the West Coast side of the Southern Alps – the stalemate leads to a relative  absence of small earthquakes. KeithW, Hi Keith have you considered the possibility that the new fault lines from the Alpine fault are likely to connect with the extension of the Hikurangi Trench much in the same way that it flows through at Kaikoura. Several faults are scattered across New Zealand's South Island, and all are associated with the motion of the two tectonic plates. Does the width of the coastal shelf also make a difference and if so, in what way. Found inside – Page 43Most of the plate movement, approximately 85%, is observed in a band 5 km NW to 20 km SE of the Alpine Fault, but significant strain is still observed 60 km ... But the rocks were all the more exciting as they bore signs of deformation, with the sizes, shapes and arrangements of minerals within revealing that the rock had once been faulted, deep beneath the crust along the plate boundary. To geologists, these rocks are extremely valuable as they offer rare glimpses into the Earth's mantle, up to several thousand kilometres beneath our feet. But there will be many places where it will not be nice to be. • The New Zealand Alpine Fault is one of the world's most prominent and active fault lines • The East Coast of the South Island is part of one of the earth's tectonic plates • The West Coast of the South Island is part of another plate “Seismology tells us that today faulting can occur shallowly, but also that it can occur very deep Earth – in the mantle – at plate boundaries,” Kidder said. Possibly the worst place of all to be is Franz Josef, where I am told that a huge section of unstable rock has the potential to bury the town. Found insideOur understanding of earthquakes and faulting processes has developed significantly since publication of the successful first edition of this book in 1990. And that greatly complicates the rebuilding phase. . Simply put, I think the surface of the globe is unstable because we are all supported on one or other of huge tectonic plates floating on a ‘sea’ of magma (not unlike ice floes, in a sense) and what we call earthquakes are what we experience as the edges of the floes grind very slowly together. It runs as a single structure for over 500 km between the Puysegur Trench in the south and the Marlborough Fault System in the northeast. The xenoliths were erupted out of the Earth about 23 million years ago – around the same time the Alpine Fault was in its infancy. Hi Keith thanks so much for the summary, very informative, very interesting. No I had not seen this article. Change ), You are commenting using your Facebook account. That earthquake, plus all the rumbing aftershocks that went on all night, were indeed rather unpleasant for those of us living at Halswell, but of course very minor compared to the major trauma that others have faced from the larger quakes. The Alpine Fault. But the scientists couldn’t say whether that behaviour continued today, given the narrow zones were too small to currently resolve with seismic methods. I hope so because I seem to be living roughly on the intersection of the two (and about 9-10 km from the epicentre of the February quake) I suspect that there are many blind and jumbled faults across Canterbury, running at different angles (note that the faulting associated with the recent earthquakes is close to right angles to the Alpine Fault). The Alpine Fault, and its close relative San Andreas Fault on the other side of the Pacific Ocean, are transform faults. To reverse the decline and avoid reaching tipping ... Hong Kong’s leader says her government is closely watching a nearby Chinese nuclear power plant following a news report that it might be leaking. You can help us continue to bring you local news you can trust by becoming a supporter. Scientists have revealed the earliest-known stirrings of New Zealand's big-risk Alpine Fault, in a study that could hold implications for plate tectonics globally. . I’m sure it will crack and connect, the question is only when. The Alpine Fault is where oceanic tectonic plates the Pacific Plate and the Australian Plate meet. Hello Stephen. Personally, I am working on the assumption that there could be more local eathquakes to come, and in rebuilding Christchurch we have to work on that assumption. Commentary on agriculture, rural development, and wider issues. Change ), You are commenting using your Twitter account. KeithW. With the rocks, Kidder said he and his Otago colleagues had essentially stumbled upon the first physical evidence of deformation at extremely deep levels of the fault. Whether the risk going forward is actually more in Christchurch than in Wellington I do not know. So all I can use is “first principles” There is no evidence that I have seen of big earthquakes near Dunedin, at least since European colonisation. I too, despite being young and having lost my home in the most recent shake, am quite happy to stick with Christchurch – as long as there is full disclosure from geologists and others regarding the risks. Hi Keith I have a question for you that I cant seem to find the answer to what type of plate movement caused the christchurch earthquake? Image: AF Scientists have revealed the earliest-known stirrings of New Zealand's big-risk Alpine Fault, in a study that could hold implications for plate tectonics globally. Thick blankets of spiderwebs across the Gippsland region have been captured in amazing photos and videos shared online. There is a lot of good material ‘out there’, but much of it assumes a prior knowledge of geology. That may seem surprising, as Invercargill gets more earthquakes than Dunedin. Alpine Fault's earliest activity revealed. The September 2011 earthquake involved horizontal slipping (very evident on Telegraph Road at Greendale) whereas the February earthquake has had vertical uplift (mostly on the Port Hills, according to the satellite data). I have been trying to find some information on Tsunamis as related to Christchurch. 1. I liken it somewhat to the twisting of a rugby scrum in which the two loosehead props each twist and buckle under (one on each side). Eventually, the leading edge of the Pacific Plate gets forced down to depths of about 600 km where it melts into magma. It would seem reasonable to expect more of these earthquakes over time, although where in Canterbury they will be is probably impossible to predict. This is the Alpine Fault where two tectonic plates meet. Tectonic plates move at rates that vary from less than 6 feet per 100 years to 66 feet per 100 years (1.83-20.1 m/100 years); and these rates may have been faster in the ancient past. Transform fault boundaries - are located where one plate slides past another and no new lithosphere is created or destroyed. thank you , All I have is the various posts here in the earthquake category. One major feature of the South Island of New Zealand is the Southern Alps, a mountain range caused by uplift along the Alpine Fault. So how does the Alpine Fault explain the Christchurch earthquake of February 2011? The Alpine Fault is a geological fault, specifically a right-lateral strike-slip fault, that runs almost the entire length of New Zealand's South Island. Found inside – Page 731A conspicuous feature of this area is the Alpine Fault which forms the active boundary between two tectonic plates. The proximity to the fault line, ... Have you seen this report from the BBC where the question of whether the Greendale & City faults might join up is raised? All major North island earthquakes – such as the Napier earthquake of 1931 and the Wairarapa earthquake of 1855 – lead to the land being uplifted by what  is known as ‘subduction’ of the Pacific Plate, which gets squeezed beneath  the Indo-Australian Plate. Typically, each major earthquake on the Alpine Fault is of Magnitude 8 or greater. We employ local journalists and photographers to tell your stories, as other outlets cut local coverage in favour of stories told out of Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch. However, that is not necessarily the case in the North Island, and it is possible for new volcanoes to form in places such as Auckland where, on a geologic scale of thousands of years, new volcanoes do indeed occur. Photo: Supplied, A finger marks the point in rock amid the South Island's Alpine Fault where two tectonic plates divide. When the pressure gets sufficient then the rock gets hot enough to melt and we have an earhtquake. The Kaikoura Coast itself is presumably at even greater risk. Instead of fracturing at the boundary, these recent earthquakes involved fractures within fragments of the Pacific Plate on which Canterbury lies. Christchurch is only about 100km south of where the northern subduction zone ends and the two plates are in a ‘standoff’ with neither subducting to the other. Keith, I think you have just answered my question with your post of 15 June. formed by movement within the San Andreas fault system—the tectonic boundary between the Pacific and North American tectonic plates. In Fiordland, at the southern end of the country, the reverse is occurring. Please write in complete sentences. Personally, I think the next big earthquake is no more likely to be at Halswell than anywhere else. It's the part of the active boundary between the Pacific and Australian tectonic plates where they intersect on land. Found inside – Page 87170 ° 175 ° 35 ° Australian plate 40 ° N 100 km 45 ° Pacific plate Relative ... plate Southern Alps Alpine Fault . low seismicity segment Alpine Fault Fault ... The Alpine Fault is a dominant geomorphic feature of the South Island, extending some 450 km from Milford Sound to near Springs Junction, where it branches off into the Marlborough Fault System. Some of the best material for non-geologists  is in the Learning Section at www.gns.cri.nz   Another site that I  found to be very informative was  the Mt Aspiring College website. KeithW. Just like when a dinner plate breaks (I have experience of that!) http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-12668190. Kidder described them as providing a "fossilised" history of what was taking place at the time of their eruption. 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Allowed ourselves to be of about 150-350 years s Alpine Fault is the next 40 years further.! About 1717 and a New study that & # 8221 ; you confirm understanding! Melting point being lowered by Alpine Fault has uplifted the Southern Alps have been against!
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