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Informative, easy read on the history of the Southern Alps
Published by the Communications and Development Department
26 November 2002
The Rise and Fall of the Southern Alps, by author and geologist Glen Coates, with illustrations by Geoffrey Cox, is the first broad book on the geology of the Southern Alps written for a lay audience and suitable for a wide age-range across both general and educational interests.
The Southern Alps (Ka Tiritiri o te Moana) are New Zealand’s largest structural feature. Running north-south for most of the length of the South Island they divide the island into two distinct regions, east and west, each with its own unique climate, landscape, and life-forms.
Coates tells how the Alps were formed from ancient marine sediments, how they were uplifted to become mountains, and how they are being eroded down to produce the spectacular landscape seen today in the South Island.
“Even in just the past few million years vast blocks of land have been shunted incredible distances,” he says.
“Frequent earthquakes remind us that this is a restless part of the earth where mountain-building is still in full swing. Rivers and glaciers past and present, carve out a multitude of valleys and ranges, and wide plains have spread out at the mountains feet.”
Coates says the Alps are still rising as fast as ever . . . about 10mm a year . . . but erosion is keeping up with that which means there is no net gain. Mt Cook actually decreased in height when 10 metres fell off it in 1991. Coates says another chunk looks set to break off, but when that might happen is anyone’s guess. And as the Pacific Plate is rammed into the Australian Plate the Canterbury region is being pushed south-west against the Alpine Fault, and consequently the plains are gradually rising also.
All this fascinating information is told in vivid, non-technical language generously illustrated with colour photographs and artwork. The result is a book suitable for use in schools and by anyone with an interest in New Zealand’s landscape and heritage.
Coates has previously worked for the University of Canterbury and the New Zealand Geological Survey and is a consultant to the new Museum of History in Hong Kong. He is the director of Kahu Publishing, producers of brochures and postcards featuring the New Zealand landscape. Geoffrey Cox is the author and artist of numerous books on New Zealand’s volcanoes, dinosaurs and natural history. His last book with CUP was Slumbering Giants: the volcanic past of Banks Peninsula.
The Rise and Fall of the Southern Alps by Glen Coates with illustrations by Geoffrey Cox. Limpbound, 280mm x 210mm, 150 pages, colour photographs and artwork throughout, $29.95
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