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...