Earthquakes

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Areas of Kaikōura’s seabed show promising signs of recovery just four years after the 2016 earthquake, says NIWA.
New findings from the record-breaking Tongan volcanic eruption are “surprising and unexpected”, say scientists from New Zealand’s National Institute for Water and Atmospheric Research (NIWA).
New Zealanders and Pacific Island communities are on their way to having the most advanced tsunami monitoring system in the world.
A six-metre long orange underwater robot is flying through the Kaikōura Canyon for the next month collecting information on how the canyon has changed since the 2016 earthquake.

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Kaikōura Canyon's muddy secrets

Our team of researchers have recently returned from a voyage onboard RV Tangaroa to retrieve moorings deployed to collect sediment samples from the Kaikōura Canyon.

Submarine canyons are incredibly dynamic environments deep in the ocean that transport a lot of sediment and organic carbon. It’s been five years since the 2016 Kaikōura earthquake triggered widespread underwater landslides in the Kaikōura Canyon, causing a powerful ‘canyon-flushing’. Canyon flushing describes the movement of material from the canyon into the deeper ocean, causing the shape of the canyon to change. Studying the sediment samples will reveal important information about how the canyon changes the flow of sediment in the deep ocean after big events, such as the Kaikōura earthquake.

Underwater Remotely Operated Vehicle helps scientists collect data

A state-of-the-art underwater Remotely Operated Vehicle (ROV) called ROPOS is helping a team of New Zealand and US scientists study the Hikurangi subduction zone, where the Pacific Plate subducts beneath the east coast of the North Island.

Scientists from GNS Science, NIWA and University of Washington are currently onboard NIWA’s research vessel Tangaroa on a five-day voyage to the Hikurangi subduction zone.

During the voyage, ROPOS will download the latest data from the two observatories monitoring earthquakes and slow slip earthquakes and retrieve seafloor instruments installed along the Hikurangi subduction zone. Voyage leader Dr. Laura Wallace of GNS Science says scientists cannot wait to see what the data can tell them about the slow slip earthquakes that have occurred over the last few years. “We’re also keen to learn more about last week’s 7.1 magnitude earthquake near East Cape, which was only about 100 km away from the offshore observatories. “We hope this data will help us figure out why these slow slip earthquakes are occurring on the Hikurangi subduction zone and to better understand the processes that occurred in the East Cape earthquake.”The two earthquake observatories were installed beneath the seafloor by the research vessel JOIDES Resolution more than three years ago and have been actively recording changes in the Earth’s crust due to earthquakes and slow slip earthquakes off the coast of Gisborne since then.

This is the first time the Canada-based ROPOS will be operating in New Zealand waters, to download the information from the Hikurangi subduction zone observatories. ROPOS is operated on Tangaroa by a team of eight engineers from the Canadian Scientific Submersible Facility. It will take about one to two hours to download the three years’ worth of data from the observatories once the robot plugs itself into the observatory. Scientists are interested in understanding the relationship between earthquakes and slow slip earthquakes. Slow slip earthquakes appear to occur every one to two years off New Zealand’s east coast. Unlike a normal earthquake, which releases built-up stress suddenly, a slow slip event happens over a longer period – anything from days to weeks to months.

ROPOS will also be used to retrieve 16 seafloor instruments, which have been measuring the rate of water flowing out of the seafloor and collecting water for chemical analyses. University of Washington Associate Professor Evan Solomon says the information and samples being collected will help improve understanding of the role that water, deep beneath the seafloor plays, in the timing and occurrence of slow earthquakes along the Hikurangi subduction zone. “Working with international science partners is vital to the success of large science projects like this, as they bring technologies not currently available in New Zealand,” says Dr Wallace.

The voyages are supported by funding from the New Zealand Ministry for Business, Innovation, and Employment, and by the United States National Science Foundation.

Kaikōura Canyon

Our team of researchers have recently returned from a voyage onboard RV Tangaroa to retrieve moorings deployed to collect sediment samples from the Kaikōura Canyon.

Submarine canyons are incredibly dynamic environments deep in the ocean that transport a lot of sediment and organic carbon. It’s been five years since the 2016 Kaikōura earthquake triggered widespread underwater landslides in the Kaikōura Canyon, causing a powerful ‘canyon-flushing’. Canyon flushing describes the movement of material from the canyon into the deeper ocean, causing the shape of the canyon to change. Studying the sediment samples will reveal important information about how the canyon changes the flow of sediment in the deep ocean after big events, such as the Kaikōura earthquake.

Drone survey of Kaikoura uplifted rockpools

Drones have been used at Kaikoura to survey intertidal reef areas, many of which were uplifted by as much as half a metre in the 2016 earthquake.

Areas of Kaikōura’s seabed show promising signs of recovery just four years after the 2016 earthquake, says NIWA.
New findings from the record-breaking Tongan volcanic eruption are “surprising and unexpected”, say scientists from New Zealand’s National Institute for Water and Atmospheric Research (NIWA).
Kaikōura Canyon's muddy secrets

Our team of researchers have recently returned from a voyage onboard RV Tangaroa to retrieve moorings deployed to collect sediment samples from the Kaikōura Canyon.

Submarine canyons are incredibly dynamic environments deep in the ocean that transport a lot of sediment and organic carbon. It’s been five years since the 2016 Kaikōura earthquake triggered widespread underwater landslides in the Kaikōura Canyon, causing a powerful ‘canyon-flushing’. Canyon flushing describes the movement of material from the canyon into the deeper ocean, causing the shape of the canyon to change. Studying the sediment samples will reveal important information about how the canyon changes the flow of sediment in the deep ocean after big events, such as the Kaikōura earthquake.

Studying the sediment samples will reveal important information about how the canyon changes the flow of sediment in the deep ocean after big events, such as the Kaikōura earthquake.
Underwater Remotely Operated Vehicle helps scientists collect data

A state-of-the-art underwater Remotely Operated Vehicle (ROV) called ROPOS is helping a team of New Zealand and US scientists study the Hikurangi subduction zone, where the Pacific Plate subducts beneath the east coast of the North Island.

Scientists from GNS Science, NIWA and University of Washington are currently onboard NIWA’s research vessel Tangaroa on a five-day voyage to the Hikurangi subduction zone.

During the voyage, ROPOS will download the latest data from the two observatories monitoring earthquakes and slow slip earthquakes and retrieve seafloor instruments installed along the Hikurangi subduction zone. Voyage leader Dr. Laura Wallace of GNS Science says scientists cannot wait to see what the data can tell them about the slow slip earthquakes that have occurred over the last few years. “We’re also keen to learn more about last week’s 7.1 magnitude earthquake near East Cape, which was only about 100 km away from the offshore observatories. “We hope this data will help us figure out why these slow slip earthquakes are occurring on the Hikurangi subduction zone and to better understand the processes that occurred in the East Cape earthquake.”The two earthquake observatories were installed beneath the seafloor by the research vessel JOIDES Resolution more than three years ago and have been actively recording changes in the Earth’s crust due to earthquakes and slow slip earthquakes off the coast of Gisborne since then.

This is the first time the Canada-based ROPOS will be operating in New Zealand waters, to download the information from the Hikurangi subduction zone observatories. ROPOS is operated on Tangaroa by a team of eight engineers from the Canadian Scientific Submersible Facility. It will take about one to two hours to download the three years’ worth of data from the observatories once the robot plugs itself into the observatory. Scientists are interested in understanding the relationship between earthquakes and slow slip earthquakes. Slow slip earthquakes appear to occur every one to two years off New Zealand’s east coast. Unlike a normal earthquake, which releases built-up stress suddenly, a slow slip event happens over a longer period – anything from days to weeks to months.

ROPOS will also be used to retrieve 16 seafloor instruments, which have been measuring the rate of water flowing out of the seafloor and collecting water for chemical analyses. University of Washington Associate Professor Evan Solomon says the information and samples being collected will help improve understanding of the role that water, deep beneath the seafloor plays, in the timing and occurrence of slow earthquakes along the Hikurangi subduction zone. “Working with international science partners is vital to the success of large science projects like this, as they bring technologies not currently available in New Zealand,” says Dr Wallace.

The voyages are supported by funding from the New Zealand Ministry for Business, Innovation, and Employment, and by the United States National Science Foundation.

New Zealanders and Pacific Island communities are on their way to having the most advanced tsunami monitoring system in the world.
Kaikōura Canyon

Our team of researchers have recently returned from a voyage onboard RV Tangaroa to retrieve moorings deployed to collect sediment samples from the Kaikōura Canyon.

Submarine canyons are incredibly dynamic environments deep in the ocean that transport a lot of sediment and organic carbon. It’s been five years since the 2016 Kaikōura earthquake triggered widespread underwater landslides in the Kaikōura Canyon, causing a powerful ‘canyon-flushing’. Canyon flushing describes the movement of material from the canyon into the deeper ocean, causing the shape of the canyon to change. Studying the sediment samples will reveal important information about how the canyon changes the flow of sediment in the deep ocean after big events, such as the Kaikōura earthquake.

A six-metre long orange underwater robot is flying through the Kaikōura Canyon for the next month collecting information on how the canyon has changed since the 2016 earthquake.
NIWA scientists have completed the first national assessment of people and buildings at risk in New Zealand’s tsunami evacuation zones.
An ambitious international scientific project to study New Zealand’s largest earthquake fault is now enabling scientists to learn more about slow slip earthquakes happening in subduction zones around the world.
New information about landslides that occur on the seafloor off New Zealand’s east coast will help scientists better understand why and where they happen, and the types of threats they pose.
EQC, GNS Science and NIWA have joined forces to further develop world-leading natural hazards risk modelling for New Zealand.
Research conducted after the 2016, 7.8 magnitude Kaikōura earthquake has provided scientists with an extremely rare opportunity to understand the processes that shape submarine canyons.
NIWA scientists like Leigh Tait were saddened by the human impact of the 2016 Kaikoura earthquake, but he also says that it provided a “massive natural history experiment”.
Drone survey of Kaikoura uplifted rockpools

Drones have been used at Kaikoura to survey intertidal reef areas, many of which were uplifted by as much as half a metre in the 2016 earthquake.

The 2016 Kaikōura Earthquake has shown that more than 100 million dumptrucks of mud and sand flow through the Kaikōura Canyon every 140 years, scientists say.
An ambitious scientific expedition involving 30 scientists from around the world leaves Perth next week bound for the East Coast of the North Island.
The Tangaroa assisted in New Zealand’s largest ever deployment of seafloor earthquake recording instruments in a bid to learn more about the earthquake behaviour of the tectonic plates beneath the east coast of the North Island.
It is well known that earthquakes can trigger tsunami but they can also be caused by landslides – with devastating effects.
Since the end of June, a barge has been stationed just off Wellington’s Miramar Peninsula drilling into the seabed to find an alternative water source for the city.
NIWA scientists have found signs of recovery in the Kaikōura Canyon seabed, 10 months after powerful submarine landslides triggered by the November earthquake wiped out organisms living in and on the seabed.
NIWA vessel RV Tangaroa visted Kaikōura in September 2017 to investigate the impacts of the earthquake in the coastal zone, which includes effects on rocky reef habitats and communities, pāua fishery and Hector’s dolphins.
Imagine if you could foresee what would happen to your home in a severe flood or tsunami, and then work out how to prevent or reduce the impact before any such event occurred.
Coastal hazards, driven by more extreme coastal physical processes (including coinciding factors), can cause damage, disruption and even casualties in estuaries, river mouths, open coasts and coastal/shelf waters.
Tsunami is a Japanese word meaning great wave in harbour

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Principal Scientist - Marine Geology
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Hazard and Risk Analyst
Strategy Manager - Oceans
Principal Scientist - Marine Geology
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