FIELD TRIPS

This trip celebrates the Waitaki Whitestone Geopark's 2023 UNESCO accreditation. Comprising the entire Waitaki District and including the Waitaki River’s western catchment from mountains to sea, the Geopark embraces heritage, from deep-time geology to the modern landscape, people and culture. The late R. Ewan Fordyce championed the community-developed Vanished World Trail and Vanished World Centre, now integral to the Geopark. Dinner and overnight stay in Oamaru complement the interweaving of stories of geology, the land and the people. Highlights include Moeraki Boulders, optional penguin viewing, Oamaru Victorian heritage tour, Duntroon’s Vanished World Centre and Elephant Rocks, and Māori rock art.

Pick up: From University of Otago InterCity bus stop, cnr Cumberland and St David Sts, 9.00 am.
Drop off: At University of Otago InterCity bus stop, cnr Cumberland and St David Sts, 4.30 pm (with airport drop-off enroute at 4.00 pm, for late afternoon/evening flights).

This user-friendly tasting of Dunedin's geology, geomorphology and tectonics will outline Dunedin’s geoheritage, including its deeply eroded and partly deformed Miocene volcano, along with glimpses of the pre-volcanic Zealandia sedimentary sequence and underlying schist basement. We will illustrate interplays between terrestrial and marine processes that have influenced Quaternary erosion and deposition. Brief stops by the active Akatore and Titri faults will highlight their contrasting late Quaternary surface deformation (the Akatore Fault excursion gives more detail). The trip’s overview of the local geological hazardscape will allow participants to contemplate opportunities for forging better relationships between people and a changing landscape. 

Pick up: From University of Otago InterCity bus stop, cnr Cumberland and St David Sts, 9.30 am.
Drop off: At University of Otago InterCity bus stop, cnr Cumberland and St David Sts, 4.30 pm. Bus will do airport drop-off enroute at ~3.50 pm, for late afternoon/evening flights.

This trip will visit three sites on the Akatore Fault, including an uplifted Holocene beach, and one site on the neighbouring Titri Fault. The Akatore Fault is Otago’s most active fault, with three Holocene earthquakes having been determined from paleoseismic investigations, and the last two having occurred less than 1000 years ago. The fault is very sharply defined, and the last earthquake disrupted the local hydrology so much that the effects can still be seen in the landscape. The proximity of this spectacular fault to Dunedin makes the fieldtrip suitable for folks interested in earthquakes, hazards, and town planning issues.

Pick up: From University of Otago InterCity bus stop, cnr Cumberland and St David Sts, 8.30 am.
Drop off: At University of Otago InterCity bus stop, cnr Cumberland and St David Sts, 3.00 pm. Trip end coincides with options to connect with transport to Dunedin airport for late afternoon flights.

This excursion will examine the geology, geomorphology and groundwater setting of southern Dunedin. Features of the trip include scenic overviews, remnant landscape features, subsurface borehole geology, groundwater monitoring sites, water table variability, dune systems and perched aquifers, and coastal erosion issues. In an urban area often said to have New Zealand’s highest property and infrastructure risk from sea level rise, participants will develop an understanding of multi-hazard complexity involving shallow groundwater, pluvial flooding and coastal inundation. Trip participants will gain an appreciation of southern Dunedin’s current and future environmental conditions, societal issues, and current planning perspectives and community responses.

Pick up: From University of Otago InterCity bus stop, cnr Cumberland and St David Sts, 8.00 am.
Drop off: At University of Otago InterCity bus stop, cnr Cumberland and St David Sts, 3.00 pm. Trip end coincides with options to connect with transport to Dunedin airport for late afternoon/ evening flights.

We will explore a set of localities displaying different stages in the evolution of Dunedin Volcano. The main feature of the excursion is a ferry trip to Quarantine Island / Kamau Taurua, to examine exposures of phreatomagmatic tuff intersected by dykes of a number of different lithologies. Back on the mainland we will visit exposures that include the Port Chalmers Breccia and the products of dominantly effusive volcanism.

Pick up: From Dunedin Railway Station, 9.00 am.
Drop off: At Dunedin Railway Station, 3.00 pm. Trip end coincides with options to connect with transport to Dunedin airport for late afternoon/ evening flights. 

Explore the geology of the Otago Harbour by bike. This is a full day field trip where we will cycle the entire loop around the harbour and cross on the Portobello - Port Chalmers ferry. This will provide participants an opportunity to view features of Dunedin geology, discuss land reclamation and sea level rise, and maybe see some wildlife.