This snapshot encompasses a large, highly populated area with over 120 Million inhabitants from the southern USA to the Caribbean and equatorial Brazil. Active volcanism is present in several volcanic belts from Mexico to Ecuador, as well as in the West Indies. Since 1900 AD some 57 separate volcanoes have erupted and of these 12 have […]
Since the Earth’s inception volcanoes have been releasing gases necessary for life to evolve. The associated process of recycling the Earth’s crust has concentrated natural elements that modern society relies on, from potash and sulphate for agriculture to lithium for technology and gold for commerce. As a result, communities across the globe have historically converged […]
Photo by Pulpolux !!! on Flikr, licenced under CC BY-NC 2.0
Photo by Ville Misaki on Flikr, licenced under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0
As global population expands there is a proportional increase in the number of people living within areas under threat from natural hazards. A projection of trends from historical data suggests that over the course of the 21st Century global loss of life caused by earthquake-related events alone will extend into the millions. To minimise the […]
Photo by Kuhnmi licensed under (CC by 2.0)
On the back of the Geosciences 2015 Conference held in Wellington, New Zealand, Prof. Tim Little from Victoria University of Wellington led a field trip to visit exposures of the Wairarapa Fault, an active, strike-slip fault in the southern North Island. This fault is attributed to the infamous magnitude 8.2 Wairarapa Earthquake of 1855 AD and was the largest seismic […]
As a kid growing up on an island in the Hauraki Gulf I was acutely aware of the complex relationship between land and sea. Exploring new, and often crumbling headlands to jump off, looking for privacy in enclosed beaches, trekking miles to find new fishing spots that wouldn’t snag all our gear, or chasing waves by […]
