Martyr Fieldwork Sept 16-21

Six days, one pair of wet socks. With a solid weather forecast, I headed off to the coast to get in some fieldwork before my big push for more challenging fieldwork in October. I answered a few questions I had and created twice as many new ones with some outcrops I came across. I did some "gardening" and "diverting" so that hopefully some outcrops will be improved next time I return. This was the first time I went without a field assistant since I avoided rappelling and rafting this time, which really wasn't too bad.

Some lessons learned from a week of solo fieldwork:

-West Coast rivers are always deeper and swifter than they appear.

-If a log appears rotten, it probably is.

-If a log appears fresh, there's a good chance it's rotten.

-My field area contains some of the slipperiest rocks in NZ.

-I don't know what everyone is talking about, I am an excellent conversationalist.

-If you want to know whether it's possible to get somewhere, befriend a helicopter pilot!

Above: Lake Ellery and the confluence of the Arawhata and Jackson rivers

The Alpine Fault is between the Southern Alps (Pacific Plate) and the rounded hills in the coastal plains (Australian Plate)

Alpine Fault core (looking down; Pacific Plate to top of photo)

Alpine Fault core (looking NE; Pacific Plate to right, Australian Plate to left. A lot of my field photos look like they were taken in the dark because the bush is too thick to take photos without a flash. Many outcrops require some degree of gardening...

Around Dunedin

This seems as good a time as any to share an amalgamation of Dunedin photos I have taken. As I mentioned in the last post, I have been bound to Dunedin for the last month or so. I have been coping by exploring my fair city on runs, bike rides and drives in a scavenger hunt of sorts.

One thing I absolutely love about Dunedin is the plethora of street art- be it commissioned murals or clever graffiti- I have never been anywhere where they were so abundant. In particular, Dunedin's bus stops are a simple joy to me. The vast majority of the bus stops (over 60!) were painted by the late John Noakes, who also painted many large murals around town. The most common themes are sea creatures, space/sci-fi, and seascapes with towering islands. Many have to do with the local area in one way or another. Blue seemed to be his weapon of choice.

For the most part people seem to respect the murals and public art- "tagging" someone else's art is rare. Some graffiti has a pointedly political purpose, others are just for fun. For example, the devilishly smiling cartoon giraffes someone has taken to painting all over town. I have seen over 20 of these little buggers, sometimes in the most unlikely places and sometimes when you least expect them. Some are in love, others are pirates. Once you start opening your eyes to look for graffiti and art instead of tuning it out, you start seeing it all over the place.

Note: Many of these photos utilize HDR. This was the only way I could capture all the detail in the shadows and highlights of some of the bus stops.

Feel free to leave a comment. It would be nice to know if anyone actually looks at this :)

Giraffes

Past in Present

Robbie Burns

Church of Chris

In case you ever wondered where driftwood ended up

Boat shed

West Coast Field Trip Aug 28-Sept 1

I managed to escape Dunedin for the West Coast field trip after being confined to the city for well over a month. It was good to get out and travel a little after working so hard without a break. The trip wasn't too noteworthy except for the impressive lightning/thunder storms that are a rarity in this country. We toured classic NZ geology, looking at sections through the Haast and Alpine Schists and visited the more accessible outcrops of the Alpine Fault. All the outcrops had deteriorated significantly since I last visited them in 2006- it really is amazing how dynamic the landscape is on the West Coast. The highlight of the trip was a talk I attended at Franz Josef educating the locals on the very real hazards of a large Alpine Fault earthquake. It was a beautiful moment of science with a purpose. I found an obscure trail at Franz Josef glacier I did not know existed before- cables and ladders to the best view of the glacier. Also saw a couple Fiordland Crested penguins (New Zealand's rarest) at a West Coast beach. It was particularly neat to watch one swim up the creek to its nesting site.