[Aqualist] Friends of the Quaternary field trip

[Tim Barrows]

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION AND/OR REGISTRATION DETAILS:
Contact  - Brent Alloway (b.alloway @gns.cri.nz)

Friends of the Quaternary (Pleistocene & upper Pliocene)
Wanganui Basin 20th - 22nd August, 2003

Tim Naish 1, Brent Alloway 2 and Alan Palmer 3

1 GNS, Gracefield Research Centre, PO Box 30368, Lower Hutt
2 GNS, Wairakei Research Centre, Private Bag 2000, Taupo
3 Institute of Natural Resources, Massey University, Private Bag 11 222,
Palmerston North

Co-organised through the Geological Society of New Zealand (GSNZ) and the
Australasian Quaternary Association (AQUA)


Preamble:
Friends of the Pleistocene (FoP) trips have been a tradition for many New
Zealand Quaternarians over many years. The last FoP trip was run in 1997
on the West Coast by Peter Almond, Phil Tonkin & Pat Suggate.

Many years have lapsed and its now time to resurrect this tradition. To
get it started again - we propose to run a "Friends of the Quaternary"
field-trip to Wanganui Basin the weekend of August 20-22nd and immediately
prior to a NZ-INTIMATE workshop scheduled at GNS-Gracefield on August
23rd-24th (programme yet to be announced). As all the majority of NZ
Plio-Pleistocene stages have been defined from Wanganui Basin, the
fieldtrip also offers an opportunity to discuss the proposed redefinition
of the Quaternary System.

PROGRAMME:
Friday 20th, August
·       5.00pm onwards.  Meet at Aramoho Wanganui River Top 10 Holiday Park

Saturday 21st August [Low tide ? 15.05 hrs (NZST)]

Day 1:          Mid-Pleistocene sequence stratigraphy of the Castlecliff 
section
·       7.00am. Breakfast
·       8.30am. Introduction and overview (Tim Naish)
·       9.00-9.30am. Drive to Castlecliff Beach, Castlecliff section.
·       9.30am-11.30pm. View outcrop examples of shallow marine sequences
deposited during 100ka sea-level cycles between MIS 15-10.
·       11.30-12.00pm Drive to Kai-iwi Beach
·       12.00-1.00pm Lunch
·       1.00-2.30pm. Walk north along beach to view outcrop examples of
shallow-marine sequences spanning MIS 31-23, Okehu Stream.
·       2.30-3.00pm. Drive to Ototoka Stream
·       3.00-5.00pm. South from beach access view marginal-marine sequences 
across
the Wn-Wc boundary SSP.
·       5.00-5.30pm. Drive to Aramoho.
·       7.00pm Depart for dinner at Rutland Arms

Sunday 22nd August

Day 2:         Integrated high-resolution chronostratigraphy of 
Plio-Pleistocene
sequences
·       7.00am. Breakfast
·       8.00-10. 00am. Drive to the Rangitikei Valley with selected stops 
to view
correlative sequences in the Whangaehu/Turakina Valleys and key tephra
beds.
·       10.00-1.00am. View marginal marine sequences between Vinegar and 
Rewa Hill
with emphasis on chronostratigraphy.
·       1-2.00am. Lunch at Flat Hills Tourist Park.
·       2.00-4.00am. Jet boat on the Rangitikei River to  view Late Pliocene
fossiliferous sequences (MIS 100-88) at the base of the Nukumaruan Stage
(traditional base of NZ Pleistocene).
·       Return to Wellington (3 hours). Expected arrival 7.00 pm.

FIELDTRIP SUMMARY:
Spectacular outcrops of Late Pliocene to Recent sediments occur along the
Wanganui coastline and inland within the heavily dissected and uplifted
landscape of Wanganui Basin and eastern parts of the Taranaki Peninsula.
The overall succession exposed comprises a range of siliciclastic and
carbonate sediments deposited shelf, shoreline and coastal plain
depositional environments during orbitally-controlled, glacio-eustatic
sea-level fluctuations (primarily 40-kyr duration cycles). Broad-scale,
sequence stacking patterns and megasequence architecture reflect tectonic
influences associated with plate boundary processes during the evolution
of the western North Island continental margin.

During the last 10 years this margin has gained a reputation as the
world's most complete outcrop exposure through a late Neogene
shallow-marine, clastic depositional system. The 5 km-thick basin-fill
comprises unconformity-bound, stratigraphic sequences representing most of
the 100 glacio-eustatic sea-level cycles known to have occurred during the
last 5 Ma.

During our 2 day field-trip, we will examine aspects of sequence
development during sea-level cycles associated with Marine Oxygen Isotope
Stages 100-9. These outcrop strata represent an almost complete record of
100 and 41 kyr glacio-eustatic sea-level cyclicity during the last 2.6
million years. The primary focus of the trip is to develop an
understanding of the outcrop expression and interpretation of
shallow-marine depositional sequences. Also we look at how integrated
chronostratigraphic frameworks are constructed to facilitate regional
correlations and cyclostratigraphic analysis of shallow-marine strata.


ACCOMMODATION:
No formal accommodation has been arranged by the organisers. We envisage
that participants will organise their own specific accommodation
requirements. Aramoho Top 10 Holiday Park has been chosen as the preferred
accommodation choice since we will be departing and returning from here,
and the Park offers a range of options catering to all budgets.

To make your accommodation bookings contact:

André & Martie van Schalkwyk
Wanganui River Top 10 Holiday Park
460 Somme Parade, Wanganui
Tel and fax: + 64 (0)6 343 8402
email: wrivertop10 at xtra.co.nz

TRANSPORTATION:
No formal transportation has been arranged. We envisage that participants
will provide their own vehicles. A limited number of seats will be
available in GNS & Massey Univeristy vehicles which will be departing from
Gracefield, Wairakei and Massey. If you need a ride - please contact Tim
Naish (Gracefield; t.naish at gns.cri.nz), Brent Alloway (Wairakei;
b.alloway at gns.cri.nz) or Alan Palmer (Massey University;
a.s.palmer at massey.ac.nz).

OPTIONAL Rangitikei Jet Boat Ride:
This is optional and will take place on Sunday 22nd August (2-4 pm) to
view Late Pliocene sequences spanning MIS 100-88 on the Rangitikei River.
A very reasonable per person rate will be negotiated and payment will be
made directly to the jet boat operator on the day.