"I feel the earth move under my feet"-Carole King
Yesterday, I woke up to another day in Christchurch and felt I've got to move. The sun was shining, the air was warm, and I was struggling to sit still. The day, fortunately, was filled with motion. I took a gondola up a hill, learned more about the history of the area by going in the Tunnel Through Time and then hiked down the hill. The way down the loose rocky trail reminded me of home. Along the trail I found California poppies that had managed to move themselves from California to New Zealand. The scent of Eucalyptus trees brought back memories of hiking around the lagoon near my home. Native to Australia the eucalyptus trees in New Zealand didn't have to travel quite so far to line the trail I was walking on yesterday.
Amy Osborne points out a California poppy on the Banks Peninsula, South Island, New Zealand
After grabbing a quick bite to eat, I visited a place impacted heavily by movement: the area where the 2011 earthquake, along with destroying large chunks of the city, leveled the CTV office building. Close to this spot, a memorial has been set up for the 185 people who died in that earthquake. This also made me think how movement is always around us from the earth under our feet to the cycle of life to the constancy of change. Everything is always in motion.
185 Empty White Chairs, Earthquake Memorial, Christchurch, New Zealand (Otautahi, Aoteraroa). This is to memorialize the people who died in the 2011 earthquake.
When the earth moves
There are multiple stories about how the island nation of New Zealand formed. The Polynesian story tells of the god Maui who fished up the north island of New Zealand from the sea. After his brothers tried to leave him behind on a fishing trip, Maui made a spectacular fish hook from an ancestral jawbone and threw it into the sea. When he pulled it up he had caught an enormous fish. Maui begged his brothers to wait until he could carve a piece of the fish for Tangaroa the god of the sea. The brothers were too eager to get their share and began to carve up the enormous fish. These carvings are now the valleys, hills, and rocky coastlines of New Zealand. The head of the fish is the top of the North Island of New Zealand, the tail of the fish is the bottom of the North Island of New Zealand and the South Island is Te Waka a Maui (Maui's canoe).
The geologic story tells of a chunk of land that broke away from the subcontinent of Gondwana millions of years ago. (Gondwana was a subcontinent of the super continent Pangea) Gondwana then experienced a time of subduction, which is when a denser plate goes under a less dense plate and results in the formation of mountains and volcanoes, and uplift which is when two plates of a similar mass collide to raise up and form a mountain. (Think of pushing to cards or two pieces of paper together end to end. When they meet they rise up to form what looks like a mountain) We aren't talking dinner plates here, we are talking large chunks of land both above and below the ocean colliding over a very slow period of time.
The Banks Peninsula. View looking over the harbor in Lyttelton, New Zealand (Ōhinehou, Aotearoa). This landscape was formed by volcanic activity.
New Zealand, Antarctica, and the west coast of the United States are all part of the Ring of Fire. The Ring of fire is an area in the Pacific ocean that experiences volcanic activity and earthquakes. This land in motion is a result of subduction zones and transform boundaries. As mentioned above subduction zones are areas where one plate is going under another plate. The rock on the plate that goes under melts and becomes magma which can result in volcanoes. Transform boundaries are areas where two plates are rubbing against each other resulting in earthquakes. New Zealand and Antarctica are both subduction zones and, as a result, have land formed by volcanoes. The Banks Peninsula, where I was standing yesterday, was formed by a series of volcanoes that erupted between 11 and 8 million years ago.
A map of the world showing the ring of fire. There are more than 450 volcanoes in the Ring of Fire. This map can be found in the Canterbury Museum in Christchurch, New Zealand.
Another really amazing connection I found between Banks Peninsula in New Zealand and where I live in California is the presence of chert! Chert is a sedimentary rock, meaning it is made of of layered sediment. The Marin Headlands, where I live in California, is made of radiolarian chert that was formed under the ocean by the silica bodies of dead plankton piling up on each other, forming an ooze, and then hardening into rock. I've been walking on chert for the past 10 years. At Banks Peninsula, New Zealand chert along with other sedimentary rock like schist and sandstone are the oldest rocks and make up only a small percentage of the rock found in the area. The majority of the rock found at Banks Peninsula is igneous rock, meaning it came from volcanoes, and includes minerals like quartz, garnet, and feldspar. I love to climb so finding out about the rocks in the area was fascinating!
Trail in Banks Peninsula, South Island, New Zealand showing the rocky areas of the region.
My next move
While I thought, at 4 o'clock yesterday that today I would be moving again, this time out of my hotel and to McMurdo, station in Antarctica, in actuality, around 7:30pm I found out we won't be leaving until Saturday. So, for now, my movement is limited to jogs and day trips around Christchurch, New Zealand.
Today, which is Friday in New Zealand, I spent the rainy day in the Canterbury Museum learning more about the geology and birds of Antarctica and finishing up a few more things I was hoping to do before heading to the ice tomorrow. Around 3pm I found out my flight is delayed AGAIN and, as of right now, I won't be heading to the ice until Sunday. I spent the evening getting to know some more people who will be heading down to Antarctica with me and trying to finish up my geology video. (Look for that sometime tomorrow.) I hope to see you soon, on the ice!
Remember, if you want to keep hearing from me go to the expedition page for my particular journey and click subscribe to journals. And, as always, please write questions and comments below. I love to hear from you all and am wondering what you are wondering too!
TRIVIA TIME
Write your answers in the comments section. We'll review the answers tomorrow. If you get them correct send me your address and I'll send you a postcard from Antarctica!
What is the name of the extinct flightless bird that once called New Zealand home?
A. kiwi B. ostrich C. moa D. chicken
In which hemisphere is Antarctica located?
A. Northern Hemisphere B. Southern hemisphere C. both hemispheres D. none of these
What type of rock is formed by layering sediment?
A. metamorphic B. sedimentary C. igneous D. classic
What animals will I be studying in Antarctica?
A. mammals B. birds C. ectotherms D. reptiles
Where is the ring of fire located?
A. Pacific Ocean B. Indian Ocean C. Atlantic Ocean D. Johnny Cash's house
Comments
Add new comment