Field trips

Download the conference field trips guide here: (4.5 mb PDF download)

 

Important note: New Zealand weather is unpredictable and participants should be prepared for hot, dry, cold or wet conditions.

Northern South Island: 6-day Pre-conference Field Trip (NZD $1000)

This field trip is organised to encompass examples of deep marine, shallow marine and nonmarine Paleogene sequences from three sedimentary basins in the northern South Island. Highlights include the spectacular Upper Cretaceous-to-Eocene pelagic sections of Kaikoura and eastern Marlborough, which contain the most complete onland Cretaceous-Tertiary (K-T) boundary sections in the Southern Hemisphere as well as important South Pacific records of the Paleocene-Eocene thermal maximum (PETM) and the transition through Early Eocene climatic optimum (EECO).

The Eocene record in Marlborough, Canterbury and on the West Coast is truncated by the so-called Marshall Unconformity, which is interpreted as marking the early Oligocene onset of major Antarctic glaciation and marked intensification of southern-sourced deepwater flow around New Zealand. Other highlights include the siliciclastic mid-Waipara section, containing a bioturbated K/T boundary and an Early Eocene record of tropical conditions, and the nonmarine K/T boundary record near Moody Creek Mine on the West Coast, containing the only fern spike recorded outside North America.

The field trip leaves from Christchurch at 9 am sharp on Tuesday 6 January (departure point to be advised) and arrives in Wellington via the Cook Strait ferry at 5.25 pm on Sunday  11 January. Participants need to be reasonably fit and prepared for stream crossings (i.e. wet boots on most days).

Leaders: Chris Hollis, Liz Kennedy, Percy Strong & Ian Raine (GNS Science)

6–11 January 2009

Day 1 – (Tuesday 6 Jan): Depart Christchurch 9 am. Visit mid-Waipara Upper Cretaceous to Eocene siliciclastic marine sequence. View K-T boundary and Paleocene-Eocene succession. Stay at Arthur's Pass.
Day 2 – (Wednesday 7 Jan): Visit Point Elizabeth Upper Eocene-to-Oligocene marine sequence and Upper Cretaceous-to -Paleocene coal measures at Greigs. Stay at Greymouth.
Day 3 – (Thursday 8 Jan): Visit Moody Creek Mine K/T boundary section. Travel via Punakaiki (Pancake Rocks) and Lewis Pass to Kaikoura. Stay at Kaikoura.
Day 4 – (Friday 9 Jan): View Upper Cretaceous to Oligocene mudstone-micritic limestone succession at Kaikoura, including K/T and Marshall unconformities and EECO records within Amuri Limestone. Visit Woodside Creek K/T boundary section. Stay at Ward.
Day 5 – (Saturday 10 Jan): Visit Upper Cretaceous to Oligocene pelagic section at Mead Stream. View K-T boundary, PETM, early Eocene hyperthermals, EECO and Marshall Unconformity.  Dinner at Kekerengu, stay at Ward.
Day 6 – (Sunday 11 Jan): Visit Flaxbourne River and Chancet Rocks K/T boundary sections. Travel to Picton to catch 1.15 pm ferry to Wellington. Arrive in Wellington at 4.15 pm.

Southeast North Island: 2-day Post-conference Field Trip (NZD $200)

This field trip will visit the siliciclastic Upper Cretaceous-Eocene Tawanui section in southern Hawkes Bay, which is the first onland record of the PETM (described by Kunio Kaiho and coauthors in 1996) and also the first record of the associated Apectodinium acme.

We also visit Te Uri Stream, the type section for New Zealand's early Cenozoic stages (Teurian to Porangan) and view better exposed examples of the succession. A highlight of this trip will be an overnight stay at a local marae (Maori meeting house) where we will be hosted by the Porangahau Maori community.

This trip leaves Wellington at 8 am on Friday 16 January and returns to Wellington by 1 pm Saturday 17 January. Return time will allow participants in the five day post-conference trip to catch the 2 pm flight to Christchurch.

Leaders: Hugh Morgans & Erica Crouch (GNS Science)

16–17 January 2009

Day 1 – (Friday 16 Jan): Depart Wellington at 8 am. Travel to Weber via the west coast route and Palmerston North. View K/T boundary and PETM at Tawanui. View Paleocene and Eocene calcareous mudstone succession in vicinity of Te Uri Stream. Stay at Porangahau.
Day 2 – (Saturday 17 Jan): Depart 8.30 am. Travel to Wellington via inland route and Rimutaka Ranges, with a short stop at Mt Bruce Bird Sanctuary. Arrive at Wellington Airport at 2 pm.

Southern South Island:  5-day Post-conference Field Trip (NZD $900)

This field trip will visit marine and nonmarine sites of Late Cretaceous to Early Miocene age in the Canterbury Basin and on the margin of the Great South Basin. At Castle Hill we will traverse a section from Late Cretaceous nonmarine to Early Miocene shallow marine clastics and volcaniclastics, some richly fossiliferous. Further south, Paleogene strata in South Canterbury and North Otago are marked by a series of bioturbated greensand horizons associated with burrowed “hard grounds”.

The greensands are thought to represent condensed intervals of varying durations, some of which are correlated with the Marshall Unconformity. Their origin has been ascribed to sea level changes or intensification of ocean currents. At Tengawai River we will see the greensands and unconformity within a mudstone-limestone succession, which gives way to cyclic Neogene mudstones that mark the onset of uplift of the Southern Alps. At Otaio Gorge, Hampden and Moeraki we will have the chance to observe the earlier Paleogene mudstones beneath the unconformity.  

Late Eocene-Early Oligocene limestones between Oamaru and Kakanui are associated with basaltic volcanism, and a spectacular site at Oamaru Harbour has pillow lavas intruding bryozoan limestone. Thick glauconitic sands and silts at Fairfield Quarry span the K/T boundary. Three sites (Cameron’s Pit, Shag Point and Kaitangata) contain well-preserved Late Cretaceous plant macrofossils, while the maar lake diatomite at Foulden Hills has exceptional organic preservation of Early Miocene plant and animal fossils. There will be an opportunity to view the extensive Cretaceous-Cenozoic fossil collections in the Geology Museum, University of Otago.

We assume that most participants will also attend the 2 day post-conference trip. Therefore, the trip begins from Wellington airport at 2 pm on Saturday 17 January and includes a flight to Christchurch (3.00-3.45 pm). The trip ends at Dunedin airport at 6 pm on Wednesday 21 January and overseas participants will need to arrange their own transport to international airports in Christchurch, Wellington or Auckland. Participants need to be reasonably fit and prepared for some stream crossings.

Leaders: Ewan Fordyce, Daphne Lee & Gary Wilson (Otago University)

17–21 January 2009

Day 1 – (Saturday 17 Jan): Arrive Christchurch Airport at 4 pm. Stay in Christchurch.
Day 2 – (Sunday 18 Jan): Castle Hill Basin (Late Cretaceous to Early Miocene shallow marine clastics and volcaniclastics). Stay at Mt Somers or Pleasant Point.
Day 3 – (Monday 19 Jan): Tengawai (Oligocene marine sequence); Otaio Gorge (Early Eocene-Oligocene nonmarine-marine); Cameron’s Pit (Late Cretaceous plant fossils and fluvial sediments); Oamaru (Oligocene limestone, pillow lavas, Late Eocene volcaniclastics). Stay at Oamaru. Evening trip to penguin colony,
Day 4 – (Tuesday 20 Jan) Gees Point and Kakanui River (Late Eocene-Oligocene marine); Hampden-Moeraki (Paleocene-Eocene marine); Shag Point (Late Cretaceous coal measures and shallow marine). Stay in Dunedin, near the University of Otago.
Day 5 – (Wednesday 21 Jan): Fairfield Quarry (K/T boundary shallow marine); Kaitangata coal measures (Late Cretaceous); Wangaloa (Early Paleocene shallow marine); Foulden Hills (Early Miocene maar lake with exceptional preservation of plant fossils). Fly out from Dunedin airport to Christchurch at 7pm, or to Auckland at 8.50pm.

 

Chatham Island: 5-day Post-conference Field Trip (NZD $1800)

This excursion is an opportunity to visit a very remote part of New Zealand and equally remote part of the southwest Pacific, to examine a remarkably well-preserved sequence of undeformed fossiliferous Paleogene marine sediments resting unconformably upon Paleozoic-Mesozoic basement Chatham Schist. This excursion will be of interest to paleontologists, paleobiologists, stratigraphers, sedimentologists and those interested in the history of the southwest Pacific Ocean.

The Cretaceous-Cenozoic boundary is represented by a fascinating lag deposit that incorporates Cretaceous reptile bones, including possible dinosaur, within a phosphatised Paleocene matrix within Tioriori Group exposed on the northern coast. Overlying glauconitic, tuffaceous and  frequently shell sandstones and limestones span the Paleocene-Eocene boundary and include a record of warm subtropical climatic conditions in the early Eocene (Mangaorapan), as evident from influxes of the larger foraminifer Asteroclina speighti (depicted on conference logo).  A continuous Paleocene-Eocene boundary succession has yet to be discovered in this sequence. The lower to upper Eocene Te Whanga Limestone is of particular interest because macro-fossiliferous limestones of this age are very scarce and of limited exposure on mainland New Zealand. The limestone is a bryozoan-foram-echinoderm grainstone.

The Chatham Islands are considered to be the easternmost part of New Zealand and lie about 850 kilometres due east of Christchurch at 44˚ S, well removed from the actively deforming plate margin. They are on the Pacific Plate and constitute the only emergent part of the Chatham Rise. Research has recently established that they became emergent in Late Pliocene time (2-3 Ma). The Chatham Islands have had a chequered history and are home today to about 650 people.

Participants need to assemble at WellingtonAirport at 12 noon on Monday 19 January. You need to be reasonably fit and be prepared for all weathers: hot, cold, wet, dry. We will be walking several kilometres each day but over relatively easy ground across pasture, sand and rocky coast. Sensible footwear is necessary.

Leader: Hamish Campbell (GNS Science) [Limited to 20 participants]

19-23 January 2009

Day 1 – (Monday 19 Jan): Depart Wellington at 1:00pm. Fly with Air Chathams in a Convair 580 (40 seater) plane. Flight time of 1 hour and 45 minutes. Arrive at 3:30pm local time (45 minutes ahead of mainland New Zealand). Settle into accommodation at Hotel Chathams, Waitangi, Chatham Island.

The next three days are interchangeable, depending on the tide and weather.

Day 2 – (Tuesday 20 Jan): Visit northern Chatham Island and mid-Paleocene to lower Eocene marine sediments of the Tioriori Group sequence (Takatika Grit and Tutuiri Greensand) and earliest Miocene Taoroa Limestone. Vertebrate fossils including dinosaur and bird bones have been recovered from Takatika Grit.
Day 3 – (Wednesday 21 Jan): Visit Eocene localities within marine sediments of the Kekerione Group (Red Bluff Tuff and Te Whanga Limestone) central Chatham Island: Red Bluff, Big Bush Quarry, Henga Reserve and Moreroa (site of Moriori petroglyphs).
Day 4 – (Thursday 22 Jan): Visit Eocene localities within marine sediments of the Kekerione Group (Red Bluff Tuff and Te Whanga Limestone) along the coastal cliffs south of Waitangi.
Day 5 – (Friday 23 Jan): Depart Chatham Island at 10:30 am. Fly with Air Chathams in a Convair 580 (40 seater) plane. Flight time of 1 hour and 45 minutes. Arrive in Wellington at about 11:30am (mainland New Zealand time).