Where to explore the Wellington Fault

[@Chris.Davies]

4:24 - Disc golfers enjoying the wonderful course at Harcourt Park. Blissfully unaware of the faults running right under their feet. :)

[@OutThereLearning]

😀

[@hypereight]

First thing I noticed too! Hikoikoi Park course wouldn’t exist without the 1855 quake…

[@janmccann8081]

I’ve just discovered your videos and am happily reminded of my university days many moons ago, studying Geography with a smattering of Geology! Great stuff. Thanks for sharing.

[@OutThereLearning]

Great!

[@ro4eva]

Such a beautiful country. Hello from the other side of the globe.

[@OutThereLearning]

Thanks for watching Sam

[@perfidiousveracity9516]

Excellent video Julian! Very informative, well presented, produced and edited. This is the first video of yours I’ve seen and it was definitely a strong reminder of the realities of this mostly unseen fault line. It was nice seeing you last week too! 👍

[@OutThereLearning]

Thanks! glad you liked it. See you around!

[@flederfox]

Great video Julian! my parents actually live on Larchmont Grove, backing onto the walkway between California park and the hutt river walking bridge over to Harcourt park. it is a beautiful area and i love walking around there, enjoying the scenery and examining the escarpment and the surrounding geological formations. I was excited browsing through these videos seeing the title, and hoping you would explore the California Park/Harcourt Park area, and you certainly did not disappoint! I also really enjoyed the video north of Whanganui showing the fossilised oyster bed. I live in the Manawatu and there is a section where the Oroua River has cut a cliff near to Kimbolton at London's Ford reserve with a lovely swimming hole, where if you swim to the other side at the foot of the cliff there is very clear layers of ancient seashells which the Whanganui oyster bed reminded me a lot of. It never ceases to amaze me at how a section of land so close to the center of the north island could once have been at the very bottom of the ocean and I will definitely make sure to stop and have a closer look at the oysters next time we drive that section of road! I also wanted to give a suggestion of a place that would make a great video, and forgive me if you have already done this (I have not been able to view your full videography yet) but one of the most fascinating geological areas i have visited is Castle Point which is not too far from Wellington. The seaward rocks at the lighthouse which you can walk around on are absolutely packed with ancient fossils and looking back towards Castle Rock along the reef shows the magnitude of seabed movement caused by the Hikurangi Subduction zone and is absolutely amazing to see. I would absolutely love to get some insight from yourself or an expert in the area on the event or events that caused this and i'm sure many of your viewers would love it too! I also have really been enjoying the videos on the area around auckland, i don't travel there much but when i do go next i know for sure i will be checking out a lot of the amazing geological interest points that have been covered here. Thanks again for the great videos and insights, can't wait to watch many more!

[@OutThereLearning]

Thank you for your comment and suggestions

[@neilscorgie4058]

Please make more of these, they are fascinating.Thank You

[@OutThereLearning]

@@neilscorgie4058 working on it 🙂

[@dwaynewalsh2208]

I have meet you a few times as a teacher in the Far North. Awesome videos. Well-produced and Informative. Kapai!

[@OutThereLearning]

@@dwaynewalsh2208 Hello! Thanks for the message

[@TrainLordJC]

I came from Australia as a 19 year old in 1970 to work in Lower Hutt with of course absolutely no knowledge at all about the geology of NZ. Having travelled extensively all over the world since then I am now fascinated by this subject to understanding more about the formation not only of NZ but all the other continents. In addition to reading much about it KZbin videos certainly add another fantastic dimension to understanding and improving the knowledge. Thanks again for posting.

[@OutThereLearning]

Thanks for your comment. Yep - the more we find out the more fascinating it gets!

[@BigBoi1312-f7u]

So glad I stumbled across your channel today I am binge watching your videos I absolutely love them what a rare geological gem you are.

[@OutThereLearning]

Thank you, that's really great

[@geoffreynolds4740]

Just discovered this channel. Man in UK who is very envious of your Prime Minister. You have earthquakes we have Johnson. At least your problems are natural. Ours are human ie lies and corruption. Enjoying all the learning. Thank you.

[@OutThereLearning]

Thanks for your feedback!

[@matthewterborg9131]

Interesting stuff well-presented!

[@OutThereLearning]

Thanks - a long time later :-)

[@spadgm]

Great vid, I now live in Australia, but lived near Harcourt Park for a while, beautiful area, but I was always aware of the fault and hoped it kept sleeping!!

[@OutThereLearning]

Great, glad you enjoyed the video

[@danhartigan9529]

I really enjoy watching all these vidoes its very informative

[@OutThereLearning]

Thanks, glad you like them!

[@casplant]

Love your videos! I am binge-watching them again!

[@OutThereLearning]

Great!

[@richardmorgan3093]

Hi again thank you for such a great insight to Wellington fault lines etc...I love it .. Can you do one on Auckland and how it was formed please ...thank you

[@OutThereLearning]

That sounds like a few videos! - but yes I would like to get up to Auckland sometime

[@Shaun.Stephens]

Informative video, thanks for sharing.

[@OutThereLearning]

Thanks for watching!

[@stinchjack]

This is why I have 50 litres of water stashed away. Here in Wellington mother nature gives the odd reminder rattle earthquake, but its easy to be complacent with other more immediate life-hassles going on

[@OutThereLearning]

@@stinchjack well done! You are quite right. It's worth doing an annual stock check of your CD plans and supplies 👍

[@YaMumsSpecialFriend]

Fascinating 🖖🏼

[@OutThereLearning]

Thanks. Glad you think so too!

[@rustymotor]

Fascinating video! Have visited NZ a few times from central Australia and find the Geography very interesting. Is the Wellington fault line creeping along or just builds up stress until it ruptures violently? My Grandmother lived somewhere on South Island for a few years and when I was young I remember her telling me how she was fascinated to watch water in the rain water tank rippling from occasional earth tremors.

[@OutThereLearning]

Thanks for your interest. The Wellington Fault is locked and will release the stress suddenly in a future earthquake.

[@chaoscooper9272]

Noice finally the algorithm blessed me with this :), Need more of the those animated bits like the fault line across harbor please

[@OutThereLearning]

Thanks!

[@dboy5273]

Great video, take a drink every time you hear wellington fault, then see if u can walk

[@OutThereLearning]

Haha - great idea!

[@muhamadazrinasat3611]

The way you can decipher the geomorphology and relate it with structural geology is amazing. May I ask a question that might seem silly? If you were to give an assignment to an undergraduate of geology to explain the geologic history of the California Park like the one you did in the video, how well would you expect him/her to done it? Because if you were to ask me, I would be fool enough to think that the slopes were man-made to create a more "natural" feeling to the park.

[@OutThereLearning]

That would depend on the way the students had been introduced to the landforms. Personally I would get them to make a simple survey of the flat and sloping surfaces of Harcourt Park in the area near the fault and then pick out the offsets and start to make interpretations from there. Every observation and interpretation is open to question, including the idea that the slopes are man-made, so they could offer the pros and cons of any such idea as part of the process.

[@tonysouthern3017]

This is brilliant stuff. Thanks !

[@OutThereLearning]

Great that you think so! Thank you

[@allgood6760]

Thanks from Wgtn👍🇳🇿

[@OutThereLearning]

Welcome!

[@Michael20089]

Fantastic

[@OutThereLearning]

Thanks!

[@integrito3323]

W folk are a wealth of knowledge! Imagine what the world would be like if the stayed where the were!

[@andyharpist2938]

Can you try to get shots of the land opening and closing please. Preferably with people falling into it as the ground subsides suddenly. Even better with flames and magma frying them bit by bit. Hope this helps-

[@OutThereLearning]

Thanks for your very colourful request. Might be easier just to watch a few more movies!

[@adifferentpointofview105]

Some maps would be helpful in this sort video. I've lived in the Wellington region all my life and driven through the Hutt Valley a zillion times, but I had no idea where California Drive or Harcourt Park are. I ended up using Google Maps.

[@pashakdescilly7517]

Are ther any plans to create an acces road to Wellington away from the major fault line? I think the Transmission Gully plan still needs the road to Kaiwharawhara, ie still along the Wellington fault

[@OutThereLearning]

Not that I am aware of, although I am not a planner. There aren't any obvious routes out of Wellington that don't cross, or come very close to, one or other of the major regional active faults such as the Ohariu, Wellington or Wairarapa faults. Cheers

[@pashakdescilly7517]

@@OutThereLearning Many years ago I read a story from circa 1855 that a contract was signed to create a road from Wellington to Petone. Almost as soon as it was signed, the 1855 earthquake uplifted the western side of the harbour, and created the shelf that exusts today, wide enough for a four-lane road, two railway tracks and a footpath. The shelf needed a little smoothing out, and the contractor made a LOT of money.

[@paulclarke4305]

Brilliant vid sir! I live in Upper Hutt and knew about the fault. However i did not know how it worked from a scientific geoligist point of view. Great stuff.( Please excuse my spelling Ha ha )

[@OutThereLearning]

Thanks for your appreciation!

[@Chris-NZ]

Excellent

[@OutThereLearning]

Cheers!

[@nzrockboi]

Grew up in Lower Hutt and have numerous early memories of minor shakes followed the next day by adults laughing about trying to walk during the shakes, one time I remember throwing a pillow in a room when it landed the house trembled I thought ok nice I have powers now. No one ever freaked out during a shake, they're constant but always been so minor. One year was highly publicised as the anniversary of a major quake that historically struck Welly every 100 (or 150, I can't remember so long ago) years and we should prepare for the worst, the news even had a blimmin countdown on the eve. I would say people from there are very aware of earthquakes and aware of how safety should look in those cases but not necessarily prepared for civil emergencies regardless.

[@westernsaharacampaignnz2657]

6:32 I'm living further down that slope. Fault line and tsunami zone....smart eh? 😨

[@OutThereLearning]

Just for perspective, the estimated probability of an earthquake on the Wellington Fault in the next one hundred years is 10%. Not the property I would choose, but no doubt life has plenty of other hazards that are likely to be higher on the scale than that. For what it's worth!

[@mikebarton]

@@OutThereLearning indeed. 😉 My family feel more at ease now. 👍

[@stewatparkpark2933]

The fault carries on north and is directly under the Twin Lakes water storage lakes . To build water storage lakes directly on top of a major earthquake fault is the maddest decisions ever made by the Wellington Regional Council .

[@OutThereLearning]

Actually it passes to the side of the lakes, but still it has been a challenge for engineers to work on ways to protect the water supply.

[@grendel_nz]

And it passes thru the dams at Zealandia. Even back then they must have had a clue! Brilliant warning sign in the carpark below the water tank :) Wellington is a city built around a fault line that gets stuck, then moves a fair bit. Too much risk for me. Wairarapa is similar story. The clues are there in the landscape if you are taught to read them.

[@goldsharktooth]

I always worry what would happen to Te Papa in a big one, it being on reclaimed land? Archives move to Horowhenua (shaking land) a move in the right direction ? Lol. Love the videos keep them coming so informative, great to learn more than we are usually offered in locality identification of the faults ~ to see with knowing eyes. Thank you.

[@billrobbins5874]

Do you think all the people living in Wellington are well informed about the fault line?

[@OutThereLearning]

I don't imagine that everyone is, but I am not aware of any survey that clarifies how many are or aren't aware.

[@billrobbins5874]

@@OutThereLearning just asking because people move so much more today than in the past.

[@aklp247]

Who's fault is it to build around there

[@OutThereLearning]

Good question ! 🤣

[@aklp247]

@@OutThereLearning I have amazing powers of observation called "earthquake weather"I can sense most of them a few hrs before the strike pretty cool ☺️ superpower

[@tomlegat-parker5099]

Are you a geologist?

[@OutThereLearning]

I have a BSc in geology and several decades teaching it as a school teacher and then full time geoscience communicator working from within a geoscience research institute. Not sure if that answers your definition. Cheers

[@KiwiHobbitful]

Settting back houses 15-20 metres from the Wellington fault is a good example of planning - really? If the fault ruptures do you really think it is going to make material difference? Let's stop kidding ourselves.

[@OutThereLearning]

You are right that they will still be severely shaken, but not actually pulled apart. It will obviously be bad, but not quite as bad!

[@KiwiHobbitful]

I appreciated your reply.

[@theunknownunknowns256]

Dude we saw in the Kaikoura earthquakes houses being torn apart by faults and others close by staying whole but obviously still shaken. Like have some nuance to you brain thinks dude.

[@stelitejet]

Ha ha if you had bad neabours across the road in Californian Drive they might move down the street and you'll get new ones across the road🤣🤣🤣🤣🤦‍♂️

[@OutThereLearning]

That could work both ways :-)