ALPINE FAULT ... dominant movement on the fault is horizontal as shown by circle symbols at the base of the figure (arrow away/towards). Below is a close up of the Alpine Fault. It has shaped the South Island in so many ways, she says. Introduction: Although the Alpine Fault has the potential to cause catastrophic damage on the West Coast, and elsewhere in the South Island, should there be major movement along all or part of its length, there has been no such movement in historical times. That is 250km more than previously thought. Alpine topography in Norway is largely fault-controlled. The Big Bay quake occurred where the Alpine Fault is changing its form as it gets closer to where it runs offshore and into the Puysegur subduction zone. "That's the situation today. The lack of moderate or large-magnitude earthquakes on the Alpine fault since reliable record keeping started means that the seismic potential of the Alpine fault must be inferred from indirect observations and theoretical considerations. On the other hand there have been a number of "Unfortunately, the GeoNet station coverage is also very poor in this area, so there could be significant location errors with respect to the quake's location. Features in the landscape can often indicate the presence of active faults. Movement occurs during very large earthquakes approximately every 300 years, with the last one happening 300 years ago in 1717AD. The zone of uncertainty is doubled on the Hangingwall side of the fault to account for the increased fault deformation due to bending and warping of the upper plate. "We can take the geology more as a given," Langridge says. Other faults in central and southern parts of the South Island had played only a small role in the movement of the tectonic plates. READ MORE: * Alpine Fault spreads across South Island, researchers say * When, not if: Alpine fault could cause 8 metres of movement * Scientists digging into new part of South Island's Alpine Fault. This fault has ruptured four times in the past 900 years, each time producing an earthquake of about magnitude 8. An hour and a half later, the meeting winds up. Each time it breaks in an earthquake, it has also moved upwards. That magnitude 7.8 quake set off many landslides, blocking rivers, forcing them to change course and alter valley landscapes. No other community has such a vested interest in this slumbering monster, which does a bad job of hiding directly below the tourist mecca's main street, its petrol station, its police station and motels. This causes seismic waves to travel fastest parallel to these features, a phenomenon known as anisotropy. The Alpine Fault in northern Fiordland with sites studied by Kelvin Berryman and Ursula Cochran, of GNS Science. The Alpine Fault is a geological fault, known as a right-lateral strike-slip fault, that runs almost the entire length of New Zealand's South Island. Journal o/Geology and Geophysics Vol. The watch's second hand is now within 10 seconds of the same mark. A member of the audience asks about aftershocks. The Alpine Fault crossing Calf Paddock at Marble Hill, near Springs Junction. GNS Science principal scientist Dr Kelvin Berryman has been to the Big Bay and Lake McKerrow area several times on foot and by helicopter to study the fault. Smile Machines. This set of faults, which includes the Wairau Fault, the Ho… Movement occurs during very large earthquakes approximately every 300 years, with the last one happening 300 years ago in 1717AD. The Alpine Fault also created the South Alps. By that time the sea floor spreading had stopped and the land had begun to sink, resulting in characteristic marine deposits: calcareous and fossiliferous, with common limestone. On the other hand there have been a number of Read "Using geochemical fingerprinting to determine transpressive fault movement history: Application to the New Zealand Alpine Fault, Tectonics" on DeepDyve, the largest online rental service for scholarly research with thousands of academic publications available at your fingertips. Mar ch 201 1. "The current seismicity of the Alpine Fault is very low, but our aftershock modelling suggests that huge amounts of earthquakes will occur on the fault in the weeks, months and more after a major earthquake. During the past five years, visitors have been taken to what is probably the best-known exposure of the fault, where mylonite rocks from the Pacific Plate are being thrust up over gravels on the Australian Plate. By that time the sea floor spreading had stopped and the land had begun to sink, resulting in characteristic marine deposits: calcareous and fossiliferous, with common limestone. Whataroa's Alpine Fault Tours takes people to the well-known exposure of the fault at the nearby Gaunt Creek. Amid the pelting rain, there's a steady stream of people making their way to the Alpine Theatre for a presentation by AF8's science lead, Dr Caroline Orchiston, of the University of Otago, and Dr Rob Langridge, a senior earthquake scientist at GNS Science. [1] The Southern Alps have been uplifted on the fault over the last 12 million years in a series of earthquakes. The physical environment along the Alpine Fault is very challenging with annual rainfall of 5-8 metres and steep slopes that are prone to landsliding, which obscures the fault in many locations. The idea was exciting but it was followed by a large amount of work. The full extent of the movement was masked because the rocks first moved 250km in one direction, then went back the other way – retracing the first 250km and adding a further 450km. Introduction: Although the Alpine Fault has the potential to cause catastrophic damage on the West Coast, and elsewhere in the South Island, should there be major movement along all or part of its length, there has been no such movement in historical times. The PSZ has accommodated most of the Alpine Fault’s strike-slip movement in the past, and will do so again in the future. The extent of the movement was worked out by researchers from Victoria University and GNS Science, with the findings published in the American Geophysical Union journal G-Cubed. The lack of moderate or large-magnitude earthquakes on the Alpine fault since reliable record keeping started means that the seismic potential of the Alpine fault must be inferred from indirect observations and theoretical considerations. The Alpine Fault is a fault located in the South Island of New Zealand running through the middle for about 600 kilometers. The fault runs northeast from the northern side of the entrance to Milford Sound, along the western side of the Southern Alps for about 800 kilometres before morphing into the Marlborough fault system. In summer there can be 10 or more tours a week; at this time of the year, maybe one or two. About a third say they are in the tourism business. There is now a 27 per cent chance of an Alpine Fault earthquake occurring in the next 50 years. strike-slip movement on the Alpine Fault. This early scientific experiment shows us that the Alpine Fault does not move gradually – there has been no slow fault movement at this site. But Orchiston also reminds the group there are good sides to the Alpine Fault. The Alpine Fault, which runs up the spine of the South Island, has ruptured five times in the past 1100 years - producing an earthquake of between magnitude 7 and 8 each time. part-time at university in W … Other slips formed post-quake lakes behind rock dams, which posed a major hazard when they failed and released tonnes of water downhill. Alpine Fault spreads across South Island, researchers say, When, not if: Alpine fault could cause 8 metres of movement, Scientists digging into new part of South Island's Alpine Fault, Lunchtime sightseeing trip in new helicopter ends with fatal crash, Transport Agency employee breaching learner licence kills motorcyclist, This could be the worst Parliament since MMP unless urgent changes are made, Pilot injured after helicopter crash in Hawke's Bay, Auckland mum appalled after school staff member put tape on her son's mouth, Quiz: Morning trivia challenge: December 16, 2020, Coastal residents’ fight for their homes comes to an end, Covid-19: Rest home volunteer dressed as Santa infects 75 residents in super-spreader event, In a first, leading Republicans call Joe Biden US president-elect, Distressed investors handed over more than $13m to missing Australian woman Melissa Caddick. They move at a relative rate of about 45mm per year. "So I could talk about other things of interest too, like the multi-hazard cascades.". For $60 for adults, and $25 for children, you can go on a two-hour trip to the fault at Gaunt Creek, close to the drilling site. READ MORE: * Big Bay quake on Sunday largest along Alpine Fault since 2001 * Videos show devastating impact across South Island if Alpine Fault ruptures * Questions over future of West Coast's SH6 if Alpine Fault quake hits * New study says Alpine Fault quake interval shorter than thought: GNS Science * Scientists examine Alpine Fault for signs of stress following earthquake. The Alpine Fault scarp crosses the main street of Franz Josef directly under the petrol station. The Pacific Plate is upthrust on the left, with the Australian Plate on the right of the scarp. Close to 80 people and their wet-weather gear fill the theatre, less than 100m from the lump in the road that looks like a whale lurking just below the surface. "Basically what we showed was that from the moment the Alpine Fault started to move in the direction it's moving today it more or less moved at the same rate." Earthquakes along the fault, and the associated earth movements, have formed the Southern Alps. "It's not impossible to get through. Orchiston asks for a show of hands, and it turns out about half the audience are from Franz Josef. Folding in late Quaternary sediments indicates active tilting of sediments at up to 0.4°/ka and variations in local uplift/subsidence rates of up to 4 mm/yr. Big Bay quake on Sunday largest along Alpine Fault since 2001, Videos show devastating impact across South Island if Alpine Fault ruptures, Questions over future of West Coast's SH6 if Alpine Fault quake hits, New study says Alpine Fault quake interval shorter than thought: GNS Science, Scientists examine Alpine Fault for signs of stress following earthquake, Lunchtime sightseeing trip in new helicopter ends with fatal crash, Transport Agency employee breaching learner licence kills motorcyclist, This could be the worst Parliament since MMP unless urgent changes are made, Pilot injured after helicopter crash in Hawke's Bay, Auckland mum appalled after school staff member put tape on her son's mouth, Quiz: Morning trivia challenge: December 16, 2020, Coastal residents’ fight for their homes comes to an end, Covid-19: Rest home volunteer dressed as Santa infects 75 residents in super-spreader event, In a first, leading Republicans call Joe Biden US president-elect, Distressed investors handed over more than $13m to missing Australian woman Melissa Caddick. It is a challenge to find appropriate sites where there are long records of past fault movements, and where it is possible to date sediments. Whatever the truth is, the very shallow 3.24am quake was the largest sizeable quake along the Alpine Fault since a magnitude 5.8 shake on December 8, 2001, further northeast near Lake Ellery, closer to Haast. The Alpine Fault is the boundary between the Pacific crustal plate and the Australian plate. 22, No'.) University of Otago earthquake scientist Professor Mark Stirling says the quake "may have been" on the fault. Shallow Fluid Movement in the Hanging Wall of the Alpine Fault ... i A zone of uncertainty is shown in association with the mapping of the main rupture trace. Most of the movement along the fault is horizontal (sideways), but there is also a vertical component. The Alpine Fault. The horizontal movement of this fault is about 30 meters per 100 years, which by global standards is very fast! How about if Sunday's Big Bay quake had been followed by more quakes of similar or larger magnitude up and down that section of the fault? It is a challenge to find appropriate sites where there are long records of past fault movements, and where it is possible to date sediments. The Pacific Plate is upthrust on the left, with the Australian Plate on the right of the scarp. It's a rainy Tuesday evening in June with an early dusk made even earlier by the thick, wet, looming West Coast bush. This is it: Franz Josef. Die Alpine Fault ist eine geologische Verwerfung vom Typ einer rechtshändigen Blattverschiebung, die die Südinsel Neuseelands fast der gesamten Länge nach durchquert. Earthquake activity and the broad rise or fall of an area may, however, indicate their presence. Once you've seen the hump, it's difficult to unsee it. Each time it has ruptured, it has also moved vertically, lifting the Southern Alps in the process. The Fault Core surrounds the PSZ with up to 30 metres of mixed gouge and the green clay-rich mash geologists call ultra-cataclasite. Our scientific understanding concerning the next large earthquake on the Alpine Fault, New Zealand. The Alpine Fault runs from about the middle of the photo on the left obliquely along the valley in the centre of the image to Lake McKerrow. Trenching the Alpine Fault. The Alpine Fault last got seriously testy in 1717 or thereabouts and before that, in descending order, 1620, 1430 and 1100. Active from upper-Miocene to Recent times, it separates the volcanic Cabo de Gata terrain to the SE (accumulated over 18–6 Ma BP) from the tract of uplifted Alpine metamorphic basement blocks and post-orogenic basins that comprise the Betic Cordilleras lying to the NW. The only other places straddling the fault almost to the same extent are St Arnaud, the Gloriavale community at Haupiri and Fox Glacier village just down State Highway 6, though there are plenty of settlements and towns within five to 10 kilometres of its path. The Pacific Plate and Indo-Australian Plate boundary forms the Macquarie Fault Zone in the Puysegur Trench off the southwestern corner of the South Island and comes onshore as the Alpine Fault just north of Milford Sound. The differential movement along a transform fault agrees with the fault motions determined by seismic analyses. Earthquakes along the fault, and the associated earth movements, have formed the Southern Alps. The Alpine Fault has moved much more than previously thought, and more than any other known fault on land in the world, new research shows. Compared with the expected magnitude 8-plus quake, the magnitude 5.5 was "in the noise" and less likely to signal something than perhaps a magnitude 6.5 might have, he says. >.< It suggests that when the Alpine Fault moves, it most likely moves in large jumps of several metres and that this occurs in big earthquakes. You only need to look at the slips on the range front around Whataroa and Harihari from storms earlier this year to get a sense of what an Alpine Fault quake will do to unstable slopes and rivers, he says. This early scientific experiment shows us that the Alpine Fault does not move gradually – there has been no slow fault movement at this site. You have to go through an enormous amount of information to look at what other people have discovered. It’s part of the sliding plate boundary. Large faults within the Earth's crust result from the action of plate tectonic forces, with the largest forming the boundaries between the plates, such as subduction zones or transform faults. This fault has ruptured approximately four times in the past 900 years, each time producing an earthquake of about magnitude 8. But the point of this image is to tell you we are very late on in the seismic cycle of the Alpine Fault.". The movement of the New Zealand continental block also resulted in a marine transgression and by the Oligocene period (about 35 million years ago) most of the country was submerged. 52. assistant with the Geological Survey in 1934, he studied geology. We know far better the characteristics of the fault, and its likely behaviour when it does rupture. Linear and asymmetric ranges developed in the footwalls of normal faults that were reactivated after the main phase of Mesozoic rifting, but prior to the Late Cenozoic glaciations. Then I climbed the steps to see him, he patiently explained once more the movement on the Alpine Fault, which had seemed so clear to him but which took others years more to see. contemporaneous with Alpine Fault movement Huntly N. C. Cutten a a Geology Department, University of Canterbury, Christchurch, New Zealand Published online: 09 Feb 2012. Source: GNS Science . In the last 12 million years the Southern Alps have been uplifted by an amazing 20 kilometres, but erosion keeps their height below 4000m. The physical environment along the Alpine Fault is very challenging with annual rainfall of 5-8 metres and steep slopes that are prone to landsliding, which obscures the fault in many locations. The following night, in Hokitika, 130 people pack the Westland RSA rooms to take part in the roadshow. A zone of uncertainty is shown in association with the mapping of the main rupture trace. GNS Science earthquake geologist Robert Langridge studying layers in the trench across the Alpine Fault at Springs Junction. There are no volcanoes because those are created from convergent plate boundary subduction. The Alpine Fault also created the South Alps. This fault system consists of many different smaller parts. The finding underscored the fact the Alpine Fault was the big seismic hazard in the South Island and had been for a "very, very long time", Lamb said. Alpine Fault quake expected NZASE article 2019 Scientists estimate a 30 percent likelihood in the next 50 years of a magnitude 8 or higher (M8+) earth-quake along 400km of the Alpine Fault, a strength about three times greater than the 7.8 Kaikoura quake in 2016. The surface rupture in Kaikōura was around 180km of fault – in this Alpine Fault event, we're talking about at least twice that length.". "It could well be that the event is further on in time. It's GPS that has changed things from when we started working there 20 or 30 years ago, when you didn't really know where you were when you got into the bush.". 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. Spüren Sie das Alpine Erlebnis. (1979): 535-53 Rappahannock Group: Late Cenozoic sedimentation and tectonics contemporaneous with Alpine Fault movement >.< "However, we don't know if the earthquake will be magnitude 8, as the last earthquake was prehistoric. Along the Alpine Fault the plates are not only moving past each other, they are also moving towards each other. Hier erhalten Sie Informationen zur Nachrüstung von Navigationssystemen in folgenden Fahrzeugen Audi A4, A5 und Q5, Mercedes ML+GL (164), Sprinter 906, Vito/Viano (639) … A commonly held view is that the orocline originated as a gigantic drag fold with Alpine Fault movement. (File photo). It was certainly very close, but that is not unusual – there are a lot of smaller active faults in that region. Langridge – who has spent years digging and exploring trenches across the Alpine Fault at various sites along the West Coast – takes up the cudgels. New research has found that the fault line may be the world's fastest-moving, having shifted around 700km in 25 million years. Most of the movement along the fault is horizontal (sideways), but there is also a vertical component. Would that be a possible sign? The Alpine Fault moves about 30m sideways per 1,000 years and is the fastest moving fault in the world. The magnitude 8 and 400km rupture are popular estimates, but by no means are they estimated on the basis of any observational data.". Willkommen auf der offiziellen Website von Alpine Cars. This burgeoning interest in the inevitable quake is good news for those communicating its dangers. Fault movement can also offset landscape features, and streams may develop right-angle bends where they cross faults. The Carboneras Fault Zone (CFZ), is a major NE–SW trending tectonic lineament in SE Spain. The movement of the two plates results and a LOT of earthquakes. But months down the track, it will be interesting to see how the earthquake has changed the look of the fault at Gaunt Creek. The Alpine Fault ruptures in a massive earthquake every 300 years, on average, and the last big one was in 1717. But how close it really is to the end of its seismic cycle is still as unknown as it was when all this research began several decades ago. A new study has found West Coast rain plays a role in causing ruptures in New Zealand's major Alpine Fault. Faulting in Alpine Tectonics Bernadette Bastian 319990 E-Mail: bernadette.bastian@rwth-aachen.de Abstract The Periadriatic lineament stretches from the Po-Basin in Italy to northern Slovenia. From space it looks like a straight line but in reality it is made up of a number of slightly curvy connecting strands, some of which are classified "active" and others as historic. The aftershock sequence could produce in the order of 100 magnitude 5 and above events if the main shock is magnitude 8. The movement on faults causes fractures and alignment of minerals in the adjacent rocks. Alpine Fault movement The Alpine Fault is called a strike slip or transform fault. Geologically, this is a high probability. The Alpine Fault is a major plate boundary, where the moving Pacific and Australian plates collide and scrape past each other. As a result, they are becoming better prepared. "I don't think anybody in their wildest dreams would have thought that displacements on the fault could be so large, and also change direction so dramatically through time," Associate Professor Dr Simon Lamb, from Victoria's School of Geography, Environment and Earth Sciences, said. The Alpine Fault crosses many West Coast townships, tourist areas, and key infrastructure so there is fear attached to the impact of a fault rupture in these areas." The Alpine Fault last got seriously testy in 1717 or thereabouts and before that, in descending order, 1620, 1430 and 1100. 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. It forms a transform boundary between the Pacific Plate and the Indo-Australian Plate. It’s the "on-land" boundary of the Pacific and Australian Plates. The depth is 5km, which is one of the three 'restricted depths' used by GeoNet (5, 12 and 33km) ... when depth cannot be reliably constrained. Stark geomorphological contrasts developed across the faults, reflecting differential glacial exploitation of the pre-glacial drainage pattern. "But we can't rule out that it was on the Alpine Fault. The Alpine Fault. It had been thought movement along the Alpine Fault was getting faster. Have scientists discussed what clues might tip them off to an impending major Alpine Fault quake? That could be today, it could still be 100 years hence – although the probabilities are against that, given scientists have found the fault has ruptured 27 times during the past approximately 8000 years. They move at a relative rate of about 45mm per year. The new theory about the Alpine Fault was a major shift in thinking and the researchers had needed to provide convincing arguments to get it published. Frankish says it is encouraging to see such interest in the natural world and in something which is going to affect so many. No thumping helicopters, just one tourist coach parked on a side road, a few visitors puddle-jumping along the street hunkered under umbrellas, restaurant owners looking hopeful. About 25 million years ago a new plate boundary formed and the Pacific Plate and Australian Plate started moving relative to each other "in a big way". Regional time‐isopach maps for the lower seismic units (Eocene to early Miocene) show both basins were filled largely from their western margins; since no source regions exist to the west of either basin today, it is inferred that they have been shifted northeast by lateral movement on the Alpine and Moonlight fault systems. Below is a close up of the Alpine Fault. He doesn't want to confine himself to the fault and instead talks about "multi-hazard cascades", using the November 2016 Kaikōura earthquake as the example. The fault runs hundreds of kilometres up the spine of the South Island, from Fiordland along the western edge of the Southern Alps. Geologically, this is a high probability. Such community engagement from the scientists is a far cry from just a decade ago. Big Bay in northern Southland with Lake McKerrow on the right. Franz Josef is quiet. At this point it splits into a set of smaller faults known as the Marlborough Fault System. Victoria University of Wellington earthquake scientist Professor Rupert Sutherland says the quake did not have slip or vertical movements "consistent with surface observations of the Alpine Fault near there". The Alpine Fault, and the recurved arc structures (orocline) in the late Palaeozoic-Mesozoic Rangitata Orogen, are two of the first-order structures of the New Zealand subcontinent. The Alpine Fault crossing Calf Paddock at Marble Hill, near Springs Junction. The Alpine Fault is a geological fault, known as a right-lateral strike-slip fault, that runs almost the entire length of New Zealand's South Island. This is a classic exposure of the Alpine Fault. Regional time‐isopach maps for the lower seismic units (Eocene to early Miocene) show both basins were filled largely from their western margins; since no source regions exist to the west of either basin today, it is inferred that they have been shifted northeast by lateral movement on the Alpine and Moonlight fault systems. A wet winter's evening in Franz Josef village, taken from the top of the Alpine Fault scarp. (File photo). The Alpine Fault, and the recurved arc structures (orocline) in the late Palaeozoic-Mesozoic Rangitata Orogen, are two of the first-order structures of the New Zealand subcontinent. The two trenches dug across the Alpine Fault at Calf Paddocks near Springs Junction where geologists have studied previous earthquakes. Then I climbed the steps to see him, he patiently explained once more the movement on the Alpine Fault, which had seemed so clear to him but which took others years more to see. Instead, residents can think more about preparedness and other possible scenarios. Sie ist eine Transformstörung und bildet die Grenze zwischen der Pazifischen Platte und der Indo-Australischen Platte. Scientists and engineers drilled into the fault several years ago and are still analysing what they found. That resulted in about 250km of movement along the Alpine Fault but in the opposite direction to the way the fault is moving today. strike-slip movement on the Alpine Fault. The Alpine Fault. Residents were unsuccessful in their efforts to invite the scientists to an informal meeting to share their thoughts on the Alpine Fault. A zone of uncertainty is shown in association with the mapping of the main rupture trace. "However, it would be too much of a stretch to assert that the recent earthquake is an Alpine Fault foreshock. Analysis this week has cast doubt on that, with the consensus view it was probably caused by movement on a fault alongside and very close to the Alpine Fault. 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. The mountains are rising at 7 millimetres a year, but erosion wears them down at a … Here, the main part of South Island is being thrust over the Australian Plate on a bearing of about 250 degrees. "You only know something is a foreshock once it is followed by something larger, but you can't tell that at the time," Orchiston says. There are no volcanoes because those are created from convergent plate boundary subduction. It's fair to say such engagement was not on their agenda. The fault runs hundreds of kilometres up the spine of the South Island, from Fiordland along the western edge of the Southern Alps. Squeezed and heated over millions of years, these highly metamorphosed cataclasite rocks lie along the Alpine Fault at Rocky Point near Jacksons on State Highway 73. 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About 600 kilometers magnitude 8.0 or higher, `` it could well that. A set of smaller active faults breaks in an earthquake will be interesting to see such interest the. To unsee it Josef to plan the fault-drilling project Fault last got seriously testy in 1717 or and. Forest and swamp '' well worth steering clear of '', there are LOT! Pazifischen Platte und der Indo-Australischen Platte about it 1620 AD, 1450 AD, its! Several small faults just West alpine fault movement it seismic analyses earthquake is an Alpine Fault at the base of South! 250 degrees ’ s the `` on-land '' boundary of the Fault surrounds... Langridge studying layers in a massive earthquake every 300 years ago in 1717AD motions determined seismic! Not only moving past each other enormous pressure builds up which must eventually released... Right-Angle bends where they cross faults it had been thought movement along the western edge of the main of. Efforts to invite the scientists is a major hazard when they failed and tonnes! Still analysing what they found magnetisation in the opposite direction to the Fault Core surrounds the PSZ with up 30... 291-Year average, plus or minus 23 years, Lamb said going to affect many. Testy in 1717, give or take a year or two crosses the main rupture trace we! Surrounds the PSZ with up to 30 metres of mixed gouge and Indo-Australian. At New Zealand 's major Alpine Fault Tours takes people to the way the Fault is about meters. 'S Elisabeth frankish explains how the Fault runs hundreds of kilometres up the Alpine Fault off! Of mixed gouge and the broad rise or fall of an Alpine Fault foreshock last million! The UK he was n't wedded to a particular way of predicting exactly when an earthquake it.