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Geology photo competition 2011

Landscape category

Christmas at Aoraki: mountain, moraine and glacier. 75 kph gale (not pictured) was an uninvited guest.

Christmas at Aoraki: mountain, moraine and glacier. 75 kph gale (not pictured) was an uninvited guest.
Photographer: Bethany Fox

Campbell Island, 700km south of New Zealand: Perseverance Harbour as seen from Beeman Hill. The University of Otago research vessel Polaris II is visible near the bottom left.

Campbell Island, 700km south of New Zealand: Perseverance Harbour as seen from Beeman Hill. The University of Otago research vessel Polaris II is visible near the bottom left.
Photographer: Pont Lurcock

In search of sedimentary rocks in the Dansey's Pass area.

In search of sedimentary rocks in the Dansey's Pass area.
Photographer: Kate McKercher

Orographic rainfall forms on the Southern Alps with the deep fault drilling project drill rig in the foreground

Orographic rainfall forms on the Southern Alps with the deep fault drilling project drill rig in the foreground
Photographer: Hannah Scott

Sunset on the Otago Schist within the Olivine Range.

Sunset on the Otago Schist within the Olivine Range.
Photographer: James Scott

Fluted ignimbrite, Cappadocia, Turke

Fluted ignimbrite, Cappadocia, Turke
Photographer: Alan Cooper

Southern Alps glacial landscape with moraines and terminal lakes of the Mueller Glacier (foreground) and the Hooker Glacier in the distance.

Southern Alps glacial landscape with moraines and terminal lakes of the Mueller Glacier (foreground) and the Hooker Glacier in the distance.
Photographer: Uwe Kaulfuss

The waterfalls of Iguazú, Argentina

The waterfalls of Iguazú, Argentina
Photographer: Sophie Briggs

Late evening fieldwork on Lake Hauroko, Fiordland National Park.

Late evening fieldwork on Lake Hauroko, Fiordland National Park.
Photographer: Ewen Rodway

Laki Lava, Iceland

Laki Lava, Iceland
Photographer: Jack Ensor

At the head of the Landsborough River, West Coast, New Zealand

At the head of the Landsborough River, West Coast, New Zealand
Photographer: Willy Sanson

A race against the light during fieldwork on the shores of Lake Monowai, Fiordland National Park.

A race against the light during fieldwork on the shores of Lake Monowai, Fiordland National Park.
Photographer: Ewen Rodway

Volcanologist TV. Live view of Mt. Erebus featuring today! Ross Island, Antarctica.

Volcanologist TV. Live view of Mt. Erebus featuring today! Ross Island, Antarctica.
Photographer: Daniel Jones

The vast emptiness of the Ross Ice shelf is interrupted by Mt. Terror on the horizon. Ross Ice Shelf, Antarctica.

The vast emptiness of the Ross Ice shelf is interrupted by Mt. Terror on the horizon. Ross Ice Shelf, Antarctica.
Photographer: Daniel Jones

Red Mountain in South Westland. Foreground to distance: diorite, serpentine, peridotite, schist.

Red Mountain in South Westland. Foreground to distance: diorite, serpentine, peridotite, schist.
Photographer: Nicolas Barth

Examining the Dun Mountain Ophiolite Belt in Mt Aspiring National Park.

Examining the Dun Mountain Ophiolite Belt in Mt Aspiring National Park.
Photographer: James Scott

Geologists hiking down the barren and rugged ridge to Hunters Hut, Red Hills, Nelson

Geologists hiking down the barren and rugged ridge to Hunters Hut, Red Hills, Nelson
Photographer: Charlotte Buxton-Blue

Geologists traverse the iron-rich landscape of the Red Hills Ultramafic Massif.

Geologists traverse the iron-rich landscape of the Red Hills Ultramafic Massif.
Photographer: Zoe Reid Lindroos

Looking east towards the Rock and Pillar Range from atop Rough Ridge.

Looking east towards the Rock and Pillar Range from atop Rough Ridge.
Photographer: Sam Bain

Rock formations, Valley of Love, Cappadocia, Turkey

Rock formations, Valley of Love, Cappadocia, Turkey
Photographer: Alan Cooper

Artisanal miners re-working an abandoned open pit Cu/Co mine in the Democratic Republic of Congo

Artisanal miners re-working an abandoned open pit Cu/Co mine in the Democratic Republic of Congo
Photographer: Simon Sheppard

Breakfast on the Polaris II

Breakfast on the Polaris II
Photographer: Chris Green

Sunset over the volcanic hills of Campbell Island from Perseverance Harbour

Sunset over the volcanic hills of Campbell Island from Perseverance Harbour
Photographer: Andrew Gorman

An alpine tarn surrounded by snow capped schist.

An alpine tarn surrounded by snow capped schist.
Photographer: Jesse Loughnan

Precariously balanced schist at the apex of a tor overlooking the Strath Taieri Valley

Precariously balanced schist at the apex of a tor overlooking the Strath Taieri Valley
Photographer: Sam Bain

Field category

Blending in with the locals; fieldwork upon Macfarlane Ridge, Haast.

Blending in with the locals; fieldwork upon Macfarlane Ridge, Haast.
Photographer: Sophie Briggs

Demonstration of how to take a photograph of outcrops with a proper scale, Alpine Fault footwall rocks

Demonstration of how to take a photograph of outcrops with a proper scale, Alpine Fault footwall rocks
Photographer: Hannah Scott

An imposing anticline on the coast of Pembrokeshire, south Wales. People show both scale and inferred direction of compression.

An imposing anticline on the coast of Pembrokeshire, south Wales. People show both scale and inferred direction of compression.
Photographer: Pont Lurcock

Students examining a 3m wide intrusive basalt dike at Acadia National Park in Maine, USA

Students examining a 3m wide intrusive basalt dike at Acadia National Park in Maine, USA
Photographer: Zack Churchill

Bifurcating dykes - Camp Cove, Campbell Island

Bifurcating dykes - Camp Cove, Campbell Island
Photographer: Andrew Gorman

Fallen block of columnar basalt on the beach at the base of a landslide at Blackhead Quarry. Basking in the mid afternoon sun.

Fallen block of columnar basalt on the beach at the base of a landslide at Blackhead Quarry. Basking in the mid afternoon sun.
Photographer: Rob Choveaux

Quartzose sandstone of the Brunner Coal Measures, edge of the Denniston Plateau, Buller.

Quartzose sandstone of the Brunner Coal Measures, edge of the Denniston Plateau, Buller.
Photographer: Lucy Molony

Dunedin Volcanic complex, Second Beach - getting hammered!

Dunedin Volcanic complex, Second Beach - getting hammered!
Photographer: Chris Green

Hexagonal close packing, Giant's Causeway

Hexagonal close packing, Giant's Causeway
Photographer: Alan Cooper

Diamond drill core from an exploration prospect in the Yukon, Canada.

Diamond drill core from an exploration prospect in the Yukon, Canada.
Photographer: Doug MacKenzie

Dolmen (megalithic tomb), Donegal

Dolmen (megalithic tomb), Donegal
Photographer: Alan Cooper

Dyke and sill intrusion into Dalradian quartzites, Donegal

Dyke and sill intrusion into Dalradian quartzites, Donegal
Photographer: Alan Cooper

Mapping a mafic dike in the Red Hills ultramafic massif

Mapping a mafic dike in the Red Hills ultramafic massif
Photographer: Charlotte Buxton-Blue

Flute casts in Paleozoic greywacke, County Down, Northern Ireland

Flute casts in Paleozoic greywacke, County Down, Northern Ireland
Photographer: Alan Cooper

Fluted ignimbrite, Cappadocia, Turkey

Fluted ignimbrite, Cappadocia, Turkey
Photographer: Alan Cooper

A seismic survey below the Franz Josef glacier. One of the more scenic and busy field locations to visit.

A seismic survey below the Franz Josef glacier. One of the more scenic and busy field locations to visit.
Photographer: Sam Bain

Heimaey Island, South of Iceland. The rocks in the foreground are from this recent eruption, while volcanic islands in the background were formed millions of years ago.

Heimaey Island, South of Iceland. The rocks in the foreground are from this recent eruption, while volcanic islands in the background were formed millions of years ago.
Photographer: Conor Maginn

Laki Lava, Iceland

Laki Lava, Iceland
Photographer: Jack Ensor

Laki Lava, Iceland

Laki Lava, Iceland
Photographer: Jack Ensor

Young marine fossils found at 400m elevation adjacent to the Alpine Fault. Dating these shells will provide a great constraint on Alpine Fault uplift rates in the area.

Young marine fossils found at 400m elevation adjacent to the Alpine Fault. Dating these shells will provide a great constraint on Alpine Fault uplift rates in the area.
Photographer: Nicolas Barth

Sandflies await their meal

Sandflies await their meal
Photographer: Doug MacKenzie

Minimalist geological approach to field work in the Otaio Gorge... where do they put the rocks?

Minimalist geological approach to field work in the Otaio Gorge... where do they put the rocks?
Photographer: Kate McKercher

Mount Ruapehu’s steaming Crater Lake surrounded by andesitic lava and tephra. The collapse of the lake rim has generated devastating lahars in the past.

Mount Ruapehu’s steaming Crater Lake surrounded by andesitic lava and tephra. The collapse of the lake rim has generated devastating lahars in the past.
Photographer: Uwe Kaulfuss

A sinister swimming companion guarding an outcrop of peridotite. Red Hills, Mt Richmond Forest Park.

A sinister swimming companion guarding an outcrop of peridotite. Red Hills, Mt Richmond Forest Park.
Photographer: Ewen Rodway

GEOL 273/373 trip to Sunnyside Bend, Borland: strat columns become less complicated when almost all your outcrop is under water!

GEOL 273/373 trip to Sunnyside Bend, Borland: strat columns become less complicated when almost all your outcrop is under water!
Photographer: Bethany Fox

A large offset fault in the Sinclair Mountains. Thar for scale.

A large offset fault in the Sinclair Mountains. Thar for scale.
Photographer: Jesse Loughnan

Micro scale category

Alpine Fault cataclasite, with grains of quartz at different stages of fragmentation

Alpine Fault cataclasite, with grains of quartz at different stages of fragmentation
Photographer: Hannah Scott

Disseminated gold in quartz, from the 627 metre deep Waiuta mine. Coin as scale.

Disseminated gold in quartz, from the 627 metre deep Waiuta mine. Coin as scale.
Photographer: Jesse Loughnan

Large rectangular grain of ilminite at a high angle to foliation. Large grains of mica have grown in the strain shadow of the ilminite.

Large rectangular grain of ilminite at a high angle to foliation. Large grains of mica have grown in the strain shadow of the ilminite.
Photographer: Sam Bain

Backscatter image of low friction Alpine Fault gouge from the southern Alpine Fault at 200x. Dark shades are quartz, midtones are calcite, and most light shades are sphene.

Backscatter image of low friction Alpine Fault gouge from the southern Alpine Fault at 200x. Dark shades are quartz, midtones are calcite, and most light shades are sphene.
Photographer: Nicolas Barth

Pyrite in glauconitic siltstone from the Abbotsford Formation at Fairfield Quarry near Dunedin, photographed under transmitted and reflected light.

Pyrite in glauconitic siltstone from the Abbotsford Formation at Fairfield Quarry near Dunedin, photographed under transmitted and reflected light.
Photographer: Pont Lurcock

Reefton gold at the micro-scale

Reefton gold at the micro-scale
Photographer: Ant Rayner

Infiltration of a hot fluid at low pressure has caused formation of olivine-spinel-plagioclase symplectites and then wormy amphibole-plagioclase kelyphites after eclogite facies garnet. Backscattered electron image.

Infiltration of a hot fluid at low pressure has caused formation of olivine-spinel-plagioclase symplectites and then wormy amphibole-plagioclase kelyphites after eclogite facies garnet. Backscattered electron image.
Photographer: James Scott

Thin section of Westland Granite with crossed polars and sensitive tint plate inserted. Field of view is 5mm.

Thin section of Westland Granite with crossed polars and sensitive tint plate inserted. Field of view is 5mm.
Photographer: Joe Vincent

Varved lake sediment from the early Miocene Foulden Maar, Otago. Summer/spring laminae consisting of siliceous frustules of pennate diatoms alternating with an autumn/winter lamina of fine organic detritus, centric diatoms (yellow), sponge spicules (green), and algal resting spores (red). Colors in this SEM image are artificial.

Varved lake sediment from the early Miocene Foulden Maar, Otago. Summer/spring laminae consisting of siliceous frustules of pennate diatoms alternating with an autumn/winter lamina of fine organic detritus, centric diatoms (yellow), sponge spicules (green), and algal resting spores (red). Colors in this SEM image are artificial.
Photographer: Uwe Kaulfuss

Note: Photos are for non-commercial use only. Please acknowledge photographer