The Future of the Canterbury Plains
The Canterbury Plains lie along the eastern side of the Southern Alps on New Zealand’s South Island.They also lay near the Alpine Fault, a transform boundary fault between the Indo-Australian and Pacific tectonic plates that slips laterally. The Indo-Australian plate also subducts under the Pacific plate near the south part of the island, causing vertical slip and uplift of the Southern Alps. Figure 1: The red lines show the transform fault boundary; however, the black line near bottom shows where the Indo-Australian plate subducts under the Pacific plate, causing the vertical slip and uplifting of the Southern Alps. High rates of erosion keep the Alps around 4000m tall (GNS). Invisible branches of the fault system (Marlborough Fault system) covered by layers of soil and debris carried down by erosion from the deformation of the Alps. The Canterbury Plains’ placement along the fault makes it more susceptible to earthquakes. Figure 2: This figure shows the historical pro...