Located in the Hauraki Gulf, Rangitoto Island is Aucklands youngest (around 600 years old) and largest volcano within the Auckland Volcanic Field. The island is a distinctive symmetrical shield volcano and is a landmark widely visible around Auckland.
For all those volcano spotters out there this is an amazing place to visit for a short day trip across the Waitemata Harbour to climb to the top of the volcano (259m above sea level). If you do not have time while you’re in NZ to do a lot of sight seeing then this is one not to miss and its so close to Auckland. There are lava caves to explore with NZ cave wetas and a fantastic view from the top of both Auckland and into the volcanic crater.
For interest Rangitoto is Maori for ‘Bloody Sky’. The rest of the interesting facts I will leave for you to find out when you visit the island. OR if you are really keen read up about the Rangitoto Island Scenic Reserve on NZ’s Department of Conservation (DOC) website.
The GeoNet website provides public access to hazards information, including earthquake reports, volcanic alert bulletins, near real time landslide monitoring data and latest tsunami gauge recordings.
It is now just 15 days until the close of super earlybird registrations for the Congress. Have you registered?
There has been a HUGE response to the call for papers, with almost 600 papers received.
With this level of participation, the Congress is destined to be an event not to be missed.
The Congress will bring together a unique mix of leading international practitioners in the engineering geology, geotechnical and risk management fields. The themes of IAEG2010 investigate the continuum between engineering geology and geotechnical engineering and its application, bridging the gap between theory and practise, changing the lives of real people around the world.
Listen to and discuss state-of-the-art practice in these fields, upskill on the latest research and its applications, and learn from application of different practices in international case studies.
Don’t forget, the cheaper earlybird registration closes on 31 March. Saving you $400 NZD on the full registration cost, the super earlybird is well worth it!
I was thinking of the blog on Friday 12-03-2010 while heading out to some jobs in the Hauraki Gulf, Auckland. I was lucky enough to be asked along as co-pilot (not literally) on a job to Waiheke Island in the gulf. So here are some pictures of the journey. Sometimes being a Geologist gets you some pretty lucky adventures.
The Hauraki Gulf (12-03-2010)
Browns Island
Motihue Island
Looking towards Waiheke Island
Waiheke Island
And on the return trip back to the helicopter base….
Ports of Auckland
Auckland City Central
Auckland Harbour Bridge
All in a hard days work… the weather wasn’t perfect but the bumps were worth it…
So when you come over to the Congress, book a trip on a boat to visit the Gulf Islands… or better yet take a scenic Helicopter flight.
The Congress will be based in Auckland for the week… so heres an intro to what you can expect.
Auckland (a day in the office!) taken 12-03-10
Auckland (Akarana), known as the ‘City of Sails’, is set on the edge of the Waitemata Harbour, amongst 50 volcanic cones in proximity to beaches, hiking trails, beautiful parks and islands.
Auckland City occupies a narrow isthmus between two harbours (Waitemata and Manukau Harbours): drowned valley systems inundated by post-glacial sea level rise between c. 14,000 and 6,500 years ago. It has a generally subdued topography developed on Miocene age flysch. Apart from the numerous small volcanic cones which dot the Waitemata Harbour and isthmus, the city is known for its dissected coastal cliffs, rugged bush-clad ranges composed mainly of volcaniclastic rocks, wild western coastline and eastern lowlands underlain by Quaternary sediments made up of mainly pumiceous and organic materials.
There is so much to do and see in Auckland so come and see for yourself.
Best picks would have to be:
Auckland Harbour Bridge Climb
Cycling Tamaki Drive
Kayaking Aucklands Waterfront
Visiting one of the Hauraki Gulf Islands
Walking in the Auckland Domain
Sky Tower Jump
Scenic flight out to the rugged West Coast
Kelly Tarlton’s Antarctic Encounter & Underwater World
Visiting/ shopping in Devonport or Parnell Village
Bungy Jumping off the Harbour Bridge
Drinking coffee in a local café
And of course sailing off around the harbour in the ‘City of Sails’.
The 2010 Chilean earthquake occurred off the coast of the Maule Region of Chile on February 27, 2010, at 03:34 local time (06:34 UTC), with a magnitude of 8.8 and lasting about three minutes. This is one of the largest earthquakes the world has experienced. The cities experiencing the strongest shaking – IX (Ruinous) on the Mercalli intensity scale – were Talcahuano, Arauco, Lota, Chiguayante, Cañete, Talca, Concepcion, and San Antonio. The earthquake was felt in the capital Santiago at Mercalli intensity scale VIII (Destructive).
Following the 1960 Chile Earthquake (magnitude 9.5) NZ experienced tsunami waves and wave surges causing damage to some areas. Click on the link for further information.
Within a few hours of the recent earthquake New Zealand’s eastern coastline was put on Tsunami warning, with alerts for some regions expecting the Tsunami to hit our outer most Island (Chatham Island) about 07:00 (NZDT) with waves hitting NZ about an hour later. Waves up to 1.5m were recorded both at the Chathams and the eastern coastline throughout the morning (lucky it was low tide).
