This rather odd arrangement results from the fact that the town lies just 800 meters or so from a branch of the Hikurangi Trench – the trench formed by the subduction of the Pacific Plate beneath the Australian Plate. As a result the area is subject to constant uplift on shore (the mountains are rising at about 10 mm per year, though erosion practically nullifies that figure). Why anyone would want to live there is beyond me.
As you might imagine this gives the area particularly interesting geology. Most of the peninsula is made up of layers of uplifted (formerly) marine limestone and siltstone dating from the Late Cretaceous up to relatively recent times. The layer most recently shoved above sea level is a layer of limestone, as you’ll see from the photographs.
This location has other implications as well. Due to the subduction activity of the plates and the rather quick dropoff of the continental shelf, there’s a constant upwelling of nutrients in the water, which brings an incredible variety of marine life, most notably humpback and sperm whales, to the shores of Kaikoura. They tend to hang around close enough to shore that you can see them breach without binoculars. I only saw a couple of tails, but the town’s biggest industry is whale watching (by boat, helicopter, or plane) and many of the companies all but guarantee sightings pretty much year-round.
I didn’t do a whale watch because I didn’t have time. I did, however, walk all around the town, up to the seal colony, and around the peninsula (which is a reserve). It was quite a bit of walking (about 4.5-5 hours total) but it was peaceful, warm, and the scenery was spectacular!
Here are the pictures!
No comments:
Post a Comment