'Wellington Rocks' Field Trip
Over 50 members of the public were introduced to Wellington’s fantastic geology and landscape.
Cliff Atkins and Dene Carroll recently ran a very successful VUW ‘Continuing Education’ lecture and fieldtrip called “Wellington Rocks”. Over 50 members of the public ranging from 18 to 80 were introduced to Wellington’s fantastic geology and landscape. The course aims to give people a hands-on interactive guide to ‘reading the rocks’ and interpreting the landscape. It follows similar successful (and oversubscribed) trips to the Wairarapa led by Ciff over the last few years.
Following a one hour lecture, Cliff and Dene guided the group through the city to Mt Victoria pointing out many features of the landscape including areas uplifted during the 1855 earthquake and effects of past sea-level changes. The group then followed the Wellington Fault to Harcourt Park in Upper Hutt to see offset river terraces before travelling to the Kapiti Coast to observe modern coastal processes and evidence of past sea level change before finishing at Titahi Bay with a detailed examination of well-exposed greywacke bedrock.
The participants were an interesting and interested bunch ranging from retired DSIR scientists to people with no geology background at all, but all clearly curious about our natural environment. Course assessments completed by the participants were extremely positive and their enthusiastic comments indicated a genuine interest in Earth science and high demand for future similar courses. This feedback indicates that these courses are a very effective way to engage with our community, increasing awareness of our local geology and raising the profile of Earth Science at VUW.