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Students study the Red Crater, Emerald Lakes and the rim of Ngaurhoe in the Tongariro volcanic complex - known to Lord of the Rings Fans as Mount Doom (all photos courtesy of the Earth Sciences students)

Hands-on geology: Earth Science students in New Zealand

Exploring tectonic plates, volcanic craters and geysers

Bubbling mud pits, lakes of sulphur and erupting volcanoes are just a few of the sights Earth Science students from the University of Toronto encountered while spending Reading Week conducting research in New Zealand.

The group is studying geothermal activity and mineralization in the central volcanic region of New Zealand's North Island and volcanic features related to subduction zones on a hike across the Tongariro volcanic complex.

The latter part of the trip looks at the tectonic regime of the South Island and specifically the relationships between geological features and the Alpine Fault, a major active tectonic plate boundary.

Students ascend a New Zealand mountain single file.The students proposed the first-hand research experience themselves and received funding for the expedition through the Faculty of Arts & Science program.  

The group includes senior undergraduates in Russell Pysklywec’s fourth-year geodynamics course. They are helping mentor a group of second-year students from Charly Bank’s Earth evolution course who are also on the trip.
 
“The visit allows us to explore an active tectonic plate boundary between the Pacifc and Australian plates, observe a wide range of geologic features, discuss active geologic processes and understand how geologic forces shape the landscape and affect people living there,” says student Natascia Zuccarelli-Pegoraro.
 
“Geologic training in the classroom is limited,” explains Pysklywec. “A practising geologist must look at features from a range of scales: microscopic, hand sample, outcrop, regional and global. Of these five, only the two smallest and the largest can be achieved in the indoor classroom.
 
"To comprehend concepts at the outcrop and regional scale it is necessary for our students to travel to the field sites for a full learning experience. In New Zealand we're on an dynamic tectonic plate boundary that shows the active evolution of the Earth."
 
See more photos . To learn about the students’ experiences, visit their blog at  .
 
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