Geology

Geohazards

Earthquakes, landslides, tsunami, floods, and volcanic eruptions can threaten people, property, and communities. They also shed light on the connections between Earth surface and plate boundary processes. Our research explores multi hazard interactions. For example, major disturbances like earthquakes can cause or increase the intensity of other perils, such as volcanic eruptions and landslides. Human land use and climate change can further exacerbate the effects of these natural hazards and increase society’s exposure to their impacts. UC Geology researchers investigate these connections and develop models to characterise geohazards in various plate boundary settings globally.

Areas of Interest:

• Earthquake and landslide multi-hazards
  
• Volcanism and volcano-tectonic interactions
  
• Multi-fault earthquakes and seismic hazard analysis
  
• Paleoseismology and fault displacement hazard
  
• Tsunami and coastal inundation 

Research Team: 

Tim Stahl, Tom Robinson, Andy Howell, Ben Kennedy, Darren Gravley, Heather Craig, Andy Nicol, Camilla Penney, Kate Pedley, James Williams

Geoscience Education

In the School of Earth & Environment, we are focused on two main geoscience education objectives: a) investigating better ways to teach, learn and communicate Earth Science information and b) to develop new and innovative classroom activities/resources to enhance the teaching of geoscience (years 5-13) in New Zealand schools.  We also offer students the opportunity to actively research and test new methods for learning and communicating through collaborations with the University of Canterbury’s Academic Development Group, the Human Interface Technology Lab, the College of Education and Secondary Schools all over New Zealand. Our schools programme not only provides background support to High School teachers (via UC’s Science Outreach Programme) but at the same time is involved with the design and delivery of curriculum-based initiatives that both empower teachers of science and engage their pupils. Each year our staff contribute to a number of initiatives organised by UC Science Outreach.  These include general school visits to UC, topic-specific laboratory sessions, interactive plays, field-trip support and school visits by our staff and post-graduate students. The emphasis of this component of Earth & Environment's Outreach effort is to improve the delivery of Level 9-13 Science especially and to increase the awareness of the relevance of science. We have ongoing collaborations with industry and government supported programs, such as House of Science, Science learning hub, GNS Science, Seequent, Core education,

Areas of Interest:

• Volcano education research
• Bicultural card and computer games
• Place based education
• Fieldwork education research
• Simulation research
• Interactive classrooms
• Virtual fieldtrips
• Digital laboratory research
• Blended and flipped classrooms
• Digital tools for spatial awareness
• Geoscience gardens

Research Team: 

Ben Kennedy, Alex Nichols, Kate Pedley, Tim Stahl

Tectonics and Structural Geology

The Earth’s surface is constantly moving and evolving. These movements, and the landscapes they create, are driven by plate tectonics. In the centre of these plates, there is relatively little movement, but at their edges they can generate some of Earth’s most spectacular features and phenomena, from mountains to deep trenches.

In Te Kura Aronukurangi | School of Earth and Environment we are interested in understanding the movement of these plates, from the forces driving them to the landscapes they create. We use field studies, remote sensing, seismology and computational modelling combined with geological understanding to answer questions from how much tectonics can offset or exacerbate sea level rise to how earthquake-generating faults develop.

Areas of Interests

• Tectonic geomorphology and landscape evolution
• Fault studies
• Plate Boundaries of Aotearoa-New Zealand
• Vertical land movements
• Evolution of mountain belts
• Basin analysis

Research Team:

Tim Stahl, Andy Nicol, Camilla Penney, Andy Howell, Kari Bassett

Volcanology 

Volcanology research at UC reaches from deep in the crust to the surface where volcanoes interact with human lives. We focus on applied volcano research within New Zealand working closely with GNS Science and Iwi but also have lots of exciting projects at volcanoes all over the world. Our research group uses geochemical analysis to understand the magmatic histories of volcanoes above and below the ocean, particularly our local extinct volcanoes of Banks Peninsula, and our active volcanoes in North Island, Pacific, Italy, Chile, Japan, Iceland and Hawaii. We study processes associated with volcanic hazards through laboratory experiments, numerical models and fieldwork. We strive to monitor and understand volcanoes better and improve volcanic hazard communication and education. 

Areas of Interest:

• Volatile content of magma
• Geochemical modelling of magmatic processes
• Field mapping of volcanic deposits
• Textural analysis of volcanic rocks
• High and low temperature experiments of magmatic processes
• Hazard communication research involving iwi, schools and museums
• Numerical modelling of physical processes
• Development of novel volcano monitoring techniques
• Multi-volcanic hazard impact assessments (infrastructure, agriculture and communities)
• Understanding volcanic risk to inform the co-development of mitigation strategies

Research Team: 

Alex Nichols, Ben Kennedy, Darren Gravley, Sarah Smithies, Thomas Wilson, Heather Craig