Otago Geology - University of Otago, New Zealand

16/09/2026

Last weekend the Geophysics class did their survey at Mount Horrible, inland of Timaru.

13/09/2026

Come along to Rachael Baxter's talk on phreatovolcanism. 1pm today (Monday) in the Benson common room.

12/09/2026

The metamorphic class had a great day on Friday mapping exposures of the Hyde-Macraes Shear Zone in the historic diggings at the Nunns prospect. They then spent the afternoon in the core shed at Macraes checking out fresh diamond core and learning more about the core logging process. Big thanks to OceanaGold Macraes Operation for hosting us and providing such a great experience for our undergraduates!

05/09/2026

Let's have another photo quiz. Any clues as to what kind of geological feature is pictured? (width of view is ~1m)

02/09/2026

Looks like this could have an interesting set of presentations on landslide hazard assessment, monitoring and mitigation in Central Otago. It's on tomorrow morning and you need to register.

Aotearoa is a land of incredible scenery. The tectonic forces that have created our beautiful landscapes also make them prone to natural hazards such as earthquakes, volcanoes, tsunami and landslides. Of all these natural hazards, landslides are the most costly, causing more loss of life than earthquakes and volcanoes combined.

On the 'Landslides online field trip', we’ll take you from urban Tahuna ❘ Queenstown to the rural Cromwell Gorge ❘ Tīrau and its famous Clyde Dam on the Mata-Au River.

Expert geoscientists will guide you on this LEARNZ journey to explore different types of landslides, their causes, how to prepare for them, and what engineers do to manage their impacts.

Today is also the last day to register for the web conference being hosted tomorrow morning - see the registration details here:

https://www.learnz.org.nz/landslides263

Natural Hazards Commission Toka Tū Ake

01/09/2026

The Otago Repository for Core Analysis (ORCA), administered by the Department of Geology, featured on a recent RNZ article and podcast on Antarctic sediment cores and their climate records.
You can find more on what ORCA can offer at https://www.otago.ac.nz/core-repository

📻 RNZ has reported on the recent core workshop at the Otago Repository for Core Analysis (ORCA).

🌊 The project group’s drill site was at a place called Crary Ice Rise where a finger of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet juts out, still sitting on the bedrock of the Antarctic continent.

🧊 The 218 metres of sediment recovered (a record-breaking length) was drilled after they'd used hot water to melt a hole through 523 metres of ice, all at a distance of about 700km away from the nearest base.

📡 If you’re interested in Antarctica, Geology, our history or our future, you can read the story or listen to the 30-minute podcast here 👇

https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/science-and-technology/1042217/our-changing-world-a-precious-piece-of-sediment-and-what-it-says-about-our-future

28/08/2026

A couple of weeks ago the GEOL112 class went on a fieldtrip exploring the past volcanism around Dunedin.

25/08/2026

If you are considering postgraduate studies in Geology you should check out our Department 2027 Postgraduate Programmes and Research Opportunities prospectus (link in the comment below) and get in touch if you want to know more.

13/08/2026

Heads up. The Otago Students Geological Society (OSGS) are running another historically-themed movie night. Next Wednesday 19the August, 5.30pm.

10/08/2026

Happy Magnolia Day!

With June being New Zealand's warmest since reliable records began in 1909, what looks to be a record breaking El Niño/Southern Oscillation event in full swing up in the tropical Pacific, and near record low Antarctic winter sea ice extent, we were all expecting an early bloom like we saw in 2023 and 2024. But no, even before the latest cold snap the buds were small, the tree held on, and we ended up smack dab in the middle of the distribution curve! Due to the overcast weather the first two blooms will not see their own shadow today. None the less we can be sure that spring is just around the corner and warm sunny days up in the hills await. In the mean time we're about to have a great show of colour amongst the grey backdrop of the Quad.

The magnolia was planted in 1965 and first flowered in 1978. Geology Department records of the first bloom were started in 1995 by our former long-serving dept. administrator Dr. John G. Williams. John Steel of the Department of Botany, notes "the magnolia is dedicated to the memory of Dr. Geoff Baylis, Head of the Department of Botany from 1945 to 1979." Besides it being dedicated to him, Prof. Baylis donated and planted the tree as well.