Seismically-Induced Landscape Evolution and Environmental Impacts in Ōtautahi Christchurch

Details

Date: Wednesday 4 February
Departs from: Christchurch
Ends: Christchurch
Leaders: Mark Quigley (University of Melbourne), Catherine Reid (University of Canterbury), Matthew Hughes (University of Canterbury), Brendan Duffy (GHD), Sarah Barrett (BECA)
Cost ($NZD inc 15% GST): Approx $50 per person

Description

The fieldtrip will take participants to selected sites in eastern Christchurch and in the Port Hills that experienced substantive geomorphic change resulting from the 2010-2011 Canterbury earthquake sequence (CES). We will first visit the residential red zone in the suburb of Avonside, where numerous geological-geomorphic-geotechnical studies were undertaken in the aftermath of the CES and where upwards of 50cm of surface subsidence occurred. We will then visit tidally-dominated estuary sites in eastern Christchurch to examine geomorphic and biological responses to uplift and subsidence associated with fault displacements and liquefaction settlement. We will conclude with a visit to Rapaki in the Port Hills, where hundreds of rockfalls occurred during the CES, and where evidence for pre-CES (paleo-) rockfalls was thoroughly investigated.

Start and finish locations: The trip begins and ends at Te Pae.

Start and finish times: Commences at 9.00am, Finishes at 4.00pm.

What to bring:

• Water
• Sun protection (sunhat, sunscreen)
• Warm clothing
• Water/windproof jacket
• Hiking shoes
• Personal medication

What to expect: Short walks on flat and sloping ground, including some small hillwalking. Maximum distance walked at any site will be about 300 m.