Has New Zealand recently entered an entirely new period of time? You may have caught up with the proposal that the world is now in a new era of time – the Anthropocene. Geologists have previously told us that we lived in the period called the Holocene. This is generally agreed to have begun 11,700… Continue reading Is New Zealand in the Anthropocene?
Tag: New Zealand
Matai- vanquished giant of New Zealand’s dry forests?
I’ve long found New Zealand’s black pine, the matai (Prumnopitys taxifolia) to be a special tree. From a dishevelled juvenile, It can grow into one of our tallest and oldest plants. Its foliage, unlike the delicate feathers of its smaller relative the miro, has a more scruffy appearance. It is by no means rare, but… Continue reading Matai- vanquished giant of New Zealand’s dry forests?
Discovering the ‘Bridge of Stone’ – the ancient route over the Kawarau River, New Zealand
Part way along the Kawarau River between Cromwell and Queenstown (Central Otago, New Zealand) is a feature known to Maori as ‘Whatatorere’ (Kaumatua Huata Holmes of Kati Huirapa Runaka ki Puketeraki pers. comm. to Lloyd Carpenter, lecturer in Maori Studies at Lincoln University) and to Pakeha (non-indigenous New Zealanders) as the “Natural Bridge” or “Chalmers’ Leap”. Before… Continue reading Discovering the ‘Bridge of Stone’ – the ancient route over the Kawarau River, New Zealand
Grumbling about Graywacke
When I was growing up in Central Otago (New Zealand) graywacke was a bane of my life, and certainly of my Dad’s too. The family lived on a section near the foot of an alluvial terrace dating back to glacial times. The loess soil was soft, but the impact of a metal fork on a… Continue reading Grumbling about Graywacke
Thin Ice? Climate change in Alexandra and skating on the Manorburn Dam
Growing up in Alexandra (Central Otago, New Zealand) in the early 1970s it was the family thing to go ice skating on the Manorburn Dam, a short drive from town. It was a very social occasion, with heaps of the rest of Alexandra there too, daytime and after dark too. You could either go on… Continue reading Thin Ice? Climate change in Alexandra and skating on the Manorburn Dam
The Origin of New Zealand in Deep-Time
Anyone who knows anything about New Zealand geology will know that it was once ‘part of Gondwana’. This is true, but how did it become a ‘part’? This is the origin of New Zealand in ‘deep time’. The question was addressed by researchers Li and Powell in 2000. While no-doubt much has been learned since… Continue reading The Origin of New Zealand in Deep-Time
Pacifism in New Zealand: A Ruined Life?
Back in the days when Australia had just seven veterans left from the First World War, I made an effort to meet two of them. One was Ted Smout, and the other was Eric Abraham. Smout was a medic in the First World War, and when I visited him, he was out the back of… Continue reading Pacifism in New Zealand: A Ruined Life?