Kōrero: Geology – overview

Erosion at Poolburn (1 o 2)

Erosion at Poolburn

In earliest Tertiary time (65–50 million years ago) tectonic activity slowed down over much of New Zealand. Erosion and chemical weathering in a warm climate reduced the land to an almost flat surface – a peneplain – recently named the Waipounamu erosion surface.

The surface was later covered by younger sediments, but in many parts of Central Otago they have been stripped off by erosion. This photograph, taken near Poolburn, shows a small part of the exhumed peneplain surface.

Te whakamahi i tēnei tūemi

GNS Science
Reference: CN3635
Photograph by Lloyd Homer

Permission of GNS Science must be obtained before any use of this image.

Ngā whakaahua me ngā rauemi katoa o tēnei kōrero

Te tuhi tohutoro mō tēnei whārangi:

Eileen McSaveney and Simon Nathan, 'Geology – overview - New Zealand breaks away from Gondwana', Te Ara - the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, http://www.TeAra.govt.nz/mi/photograph/8317/erosion-at-poolburn (accessed 30 March 2024)

He kōrero nā Eileen McSaveney and Simon Nathan, i tāngia i te 12 Jun 2006