Have a great time - what about plate boundaries?
January 8, 2012 - 6:49pm
Alex,
It's great that you've finally taken off. Have a great time.
I watched your video of the route. My question is - "How many and what types of plate boundaries did you cross on the way down to New Zealand?
(Sorry - I saw them flash by in the Google Earth image and just couldn't help myself!)
Mike
Great question Michael,
After I read your question I went back and took a look at the video - and looked it from a whole different perspective. I'm not sure how accurately I can answer your question - but from my understanding I crossed two plates: the Pacific plate and the Australian plate.
And that big area right before we got to New Zealand was - I believe - the subduction zone running down the East Coast of the North Island.
An Alpine Fault is the dominant structure defining the Australian-Pacific plate boundary in the South Island of New Zealand.
There's a lot of seismic activity that goes on in New Zealand.
I thought you would enjoy this websites:
http://www.otago.ac.nz/geology/research/structural_geology/alpinefault/i...
All the best!
Alex