Skip to main content

Story: Sea floor geology

Hikurangi Channel

Image
Hikurangi Channel

Mud and sand from Kaikōura and Cook Strait canyons are carried by fast, muddy flows called turbidity currents. Most turbidity currents spill out of a gap 1,400 kilometres along the channel, where the current known as the Ocean Conveyor spreads the sediment into a fan. Some currents continue up to 600 kilometres further across the deep ocean floor.

Using this item

Te Ara - The Encyclopedia of New Zealand

Source: NIWA – National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research

This item has been provided for private study purposes (such as school projects, family and local history research) and any published reproduction (print or electronic) may infringe copyright law. It is the responsibility of the user of any material to obtain clearance from the copyright holder.

All images & media in this story

How to cite this page

Keith Lewis, Scott D. Nodder and Lionel Carter, Sea floor geology – New Zealand sea-floor sediment, Te Ara – the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, https://teara.govt.nz/en/map/5624/hikurangi-channel (accessed 4 June 2026).

Story by Keith Lewis, Scott D. Nodder and Lionel Carter, published 2 March 2009.