Southern Alps / Kā Tiritiri o te Moana | |
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![]() Snow highlights the mountain range in this satellite image | |
Highest point | |
Peak | Aoraki / Mount Cook |
Elevation | 3,724 m (12,218 ft) |
Coordinates | 43°35′44.69″S170°8′27.75″E / 43.5957472°S 170.1410417°E |
Dimensions | |
Length | 500 km (310 mi) |
Geography | |
Location | South Island, New Zealand |
Range coordinates | 43°30′S170°30′E / 43.500°S 170.500°E Coordinates: 43°30′S170°30′E / 43.500°S 170.500°E |
The Southern Alps (Māori : Kā Tiritiri o te Moana; officially Southern Alps / Kā Tiritiri o te Moana) [1] is a mountain range extending along much of the length of New Zealand's South Island, reaching its greatest elevations near the range's western side. The name "Southern Alps" generally refers to the entire range, although separate names are given to many of the smaller ranges that form part of it.
The range includes the South Island's Main Divide, which separates the water catchments of the more heavily populated eastern side of the island from those on the west coast. [2] Politically, the Main Divide forms the boundary between the Marlborough, Canterbury and Otago regions to the southeast and the Tasman and West Coast regions to the northwest.
The Māori name of the range is Kā Tiritiri o te Moana, meaning "the Mirage of the Ocean". [1]
The English explorer James Cook bestowed the name Southern Alps on 23 March 1770, admiring their "prodigious height". [3] They had previously been noted by Abel Tasman in 1642, whose description of the South Island's west coast is often translated as "a land uplifted high". [4]
Following the passage of the Ngāi Tahu Claims Settlement Act 1998, the official name of the range was updated to Southern Alps / Kā Tiritiri o te Moana. [5]
The Southern Alps run approximately 500 km [6] northeast to southwest. Its tallest peak is Aoraki / Mount Cook, the highest point in New Zealand at 3,724 metres (12,218 ft). The Southern Alps include sixteen other points that exceed 3,000 metres (9,800 ft) in height (see NZ Mountains by Height). The mountain ranges are bisected by glacial valleys, many of which are infilled with glacial lakes on the eastern side including Lake Coleridge in the north to Lake Wakatipu in Otago in the south. According to an inventory conducted in the late 1970s, the Southern Alps contained over 3,000 glaciers larger than one hectare, [7] the longest of which – the Tasman Glacier – is 23.5 kilometres (14.6 mi) in length which has retreated from a recent maximum of 29 kilometres (18 mi) in the 1960s. [8] [9]
Settlements include Maruia Springs, a spa near Lewis Pass, the town of Arthur's Pass, and Mount Cook Village.
Major crossings of the Southern Alps in the New Zealand road network include Lewis Pass (SH 7), Arthur's Pass (SH 73), Haast Pass (SH 6), and the road to Milford Sound (SH 94).
New Zealand has a humid maritime, temperate climate with the Southern Alps lying perpendicular to the prevailing westerly flow of air. Annual precipitation varies greatly across the range, from 3,000 millimetres (120 in) at the West Coast, 15,000 millimetres (590 in) close to the Main Divide, to 1,000 millimetres (39 in)30 kilometres (19 mi) east of the Main Divide. [10] This high precipitation aids the growth of glaciers above the Snow line. Large glaciers and snowfields can be found west of or on the Main Divide, with smaller glaciers farther east (See Glaciers of New Zealand).
Because of its orientation perpendicular to the prevailing westerly winds, the range creates excellent wave soaring conditions for glider pilots. The town of Omarama, in the lee of the mountains, has gained an international reputation for its gliding conditions. The prevailing westerlies also create a weather pattern known as the Nor'west arch , in which moist air is pushed up over the mountains, forming an arch of cloud in an otherwise blue sky. This weather pattern is frequently visible in summer across Canterbury and North Otago. The 'Nor'wester' is a foehn wind similar to the Chinook of Canada, where mountain ranges in the path of prevailing moisture laden winds force air upwards, thus cooling the air and condensing the moisture to rain, producing hot dry winds in the descending air lee of the mountains.
The Southern Alps lie along a geological plate boundary, part of the Pacific Ring of Fire, with the Pacific Plate to the southeast pushing westward and colliding with the northward-moving Indo-Australian Plate to the northwest. [11] Over the last 45 million years, the collision has pushed up a 20 km thickness of rocks on the Pacific Plate to form the Alps, although much of this has been eroded away. Uplift has been most rapid during the last 5 million years, and the mountains continue to be raised today by tectonic pressure, causing earthquakes on the Alpine Fault and other nearby faults. Despite the substantial uplift, most of the relative motion along the Alpine Fault is transverse, not vertical. [12] However, significant dip-slip occurs on the plate boundary to the north and east of the North Island, in the Hikurangi Trench and Kermadec Trench. The transfer of motion from strike-slip on the Alpine Fault to dip-slip motion at these subduction zones to the north creates the Marlborough Fault System, which has resulted in significant uplift in the region.
In 2017 a large international team of scientists reported they had discovered beneath Whataroa, a small township on the Alpine Fault, "extreme" hydrothermal activity which "could be commercially very significant". [13] [14]
The mountains are rich in flora with about 25% of the country's plant species being found above the treeline in alpine plant habitats and grassland with mountain beech forest at lower elevations (of the eastern side but not in Westland). The cold windswept slopes above the treeline are covered with areas of fellfield. To the east, the Alps descend to the Canterbury-Otago tussock grasslands. Plants adapted to the alpine conditions include woody shrubs like Hebe , Dracophyllum , and Coprosma , the conifer snow totara (Podocarpus nivalis) and Carex sedge grasses. [15]
Wildlife of the mountains includes the endemic rock wren (Xenicus gilviventris). There are also a number of endemic insects adapted to these high altitudes especially flies, moths, beetles, and bees. The beech forests of the lower elevations are important habitat for two birds; the great spotted kiwi (Apteryx haastii) and the South Island kaka (Nestor meridionalis meridionalis). The Kea can be found in the forested foothills as well as higher, colder elevations. It is the world's only alpine parrot, and was once hunted as a pest.
The mountains are inaccessible and retain their natural vegetation. A large proportion of the range is well protected as part of various national parks, notably the Westland Tai Poutini National Park, Mount Aspiring National Park, and Aoraki / Mount Cook National Park or protected areas such as Lake Sumner Forest Park. Indigenous plant life is affected by introduced animals such as red deer (Cervus elaphus), chamois (Rupicapra rupicapra), and Himalayan tahr (Hemitragus jemlahicus) all of which have at times been targeted for culling, while the birds and reptiles are vulnerable to introduced predators.
Aoraki / Mount Cook is the highest mountain in New Zealand. Its height, as of 2014, is listed as 3,724 metres. It sits in the Southern Alps, the mountain range that runs the length of the South Island. A popular tourist destination, it is also a favourite challenge for mountain climbers. Aoraki / Mount Cook consists of three summits: from south to north, the Low Peak, the Middle Peak and the High Peak. The summits lie slightly south and east of the main divide of the Southern Alps, with the Tasman Glacier to the east and the Hooker Glacier to the southwest.
Aoraki/Mount Cook National Park is in the South Island of New Zealand. Aoraki / Mount Cook, New Zealand's highest mountain, and the eponymous village lie within the park. The area was gazetted as a national park in October 1953 and consists of reserves that were established as early as 1887 to protect the area's significant vegetation and landscape.
Fiordland National Park occupies the southwest corner of the South Island of New Zealand. It is by far the largest of the 13 national parks in New Zealand, with an area of 12,607 square kilometres (4,868 sq mi), and a major part of the Te Wahipounamu World Heritage Site. The park is administered by the Department of Conservation.
The Ōtira River is located in the central South Island of New Zealand. It rises on the slopes of Mount Rolleston in the Southern Alps / Kā Tiritiri o te Moana, and flows north for 20 kilometres (12 mi), passing through the town of Otira before joining the Taramakau River. The Taramakau's outflow is into the Tasman Sea, 12 kilometres (7.5 mi) south of Greymouth.
Westland Tai Poutini National Park is a national park located on the western coast of New Zealand's South Island. Established in 1960 as Westland National Park to commemorate the centenary of the European settlement of Westland District, it covers 1,320 square kilometres of largely mountainous terrain and forest. The park borders the Aoraki/Mount Cook National Park along the Main Divide of the Southern Alps / Kā Tiritiri o te Moana, and includes many of the West Coast's glaciers, most notably including the Fox / Te Moeka o Tuawe and Franz Josef / Kā Roimata o Hine Hukatere glaciers.
The Alpine Fault is a geological fault that runs almost the entire length of New Zealand's South Island and forms the boundary between the Pacific Plate and the Indo-Australian Plate. The Southern Alps have been uplifted on the fault over the last 12 million years in a series of earthquakes. However, most of the motion on the fault is strike-slip, with the Tasman district and West Coast moving North and Canterbury and Otago moving South. The average slip rates in the fault's central region are about 38 mm a year, very fast by global standards. The last major earthquake on the Alpine Fault was in c. 1717 AD, and the probability of another one occurring within the next 50 years is estimated at about 75 percent.
Lake Gunn is a lake in the South Island of New Zealand, located at 44°53′S168°05′E.
Mount Adams is a mountain in the West Coast region of New Zealand's South Island. The summit is roughly 19 km south of Harihari and reaches 2,208 metres (7,244 ft) in height.
South Canterbury is the area of the Canterbury Region of the South Island of New Zealand bounded by the Rangitata River in the north and the Waitaki River to the south. The Pacific Ocean and ridge of the Southern Alps / Kā Tiritiri o te Moana form natural boundaries to the east and west respectively. Though the exact boundaries of the region have never been formalised, the term is used for a variety of government agencies and other entities. It is one of four traditional sub-regions of Canterbury, along with Mid Canterbury, North Canterbury, and Christchurch city.
The geology of New Zealand is noted for its volcanic activity, earthquakes and geothermal areas because of its position on the boundary of the Australian Plate and Pacific Plates. New Zealand is part of Zealandia, a microcontinent nearly half the size of Australia that broke away from the Gondwanan supercontinent about 83 million years ago. New Zealand's early separation from other landmasses and subsequent evolution have created a unique fossil record and modern ecology.
The Rees River is a headwater tributary of the Clutha River / Mata-Au that drains eastward of the main divide of the Southern Alps / Kā Tiritiri o te Moana in New Zealand. The river runs 41 km, drains an area of 406 km2, and discharges into the head of Lake Wakatipu at Glenorchy. Bound by the Richardson (Whakaari) Mountains to the east and the Forbes Mountains to the west, its snow-covered headwaters rise above 2000 m.
Canterbury in New Zealand is the portion of the South Island to the east of the Southern Alps / Kā Tiritiri o te Moana, from the Waiau Uwha River in the north, to the Waitaki River in the south.
The Arrowsmith Range is a mountain range in the South Island of New Zealand. The range runs from southwest to northeast, parallel to the main ranges of the Southern Alps / Kā Tiritiri o te Moana. At the northeastern end, the range terminates at Jagged Peak, whence a ridge connects to the Jollie Range. The lower Potts Range is a continuation at the southwestern end of the range. The highest point on the range is Mount Arrowsmith.
Harper Glacier could mean:
The Humboldt Mountains or Humboldt Range are one of the many ranges which make up the Southern Alps / Kā Tiritiri o te Moana in the South Island of New Zealand. They lie to the northwest of Lake Wakatipu in the Otago Region. Parts of the range lie within Fiordland National Park, and they form the southern extremity of Mount Aspiring National Park. The range was named by early explorer James McKerrow, and like many geographic features worldwide, it was named in honour of notable scientist Alexander von Humboldt.
La Perouse, originally called Mount Stokes, is a mountain in New Zealand's Southern Alps, rising to a height of 3,078 metres (10,098 ft).
Mount Whitcombe is a mountain in New Zealand's Southern Alps, rising to a height of 2,650 metres (8,690 ft).
Marmaduke John Dixon, known as Marmaduke or Duke Dixon, was a New Zealand farmer and mountaineer.
The Greenstone River / Hokonui, also known as the Big Hohonu River, is a river on the West Coast of New Zealand's South Island. It rises in the Hohonu Range, an outlying range of the Southern Alps / Kā Tiritiri o te Moana, roughly 30 kilometres (19 mi) southeast of Greymouth. The river flows northwest for its entire length, eventually joining the same river valley as the larger Taramakau River near the town of Kumara. From here, the two rivers flow roughly parallel for around 5 kilometres (3.1 mi) before the Greenstone / Hokonui joins the Taramakau just shy of the latter's mouth in the Tasman Sea. The area surrounding the river was historically home to gold mining operations, following the discovery of payable amounts of gold in 1864. The township of Greenstone was established on the river in the wake of this discovery, with other industries including a sawmill soon being established.
The Garden of Eden Ice Plateau is a large ice field on the western side of New Zealand's Southern Alps / Kā Tiritiri o te Moana. At over 9 kilometres (5.6 mi) long, the Garden of Eden is one of the largest ice fields in New Zealand, along with the equally-sized Garden of Allah Ice Field which sits just to the north. The ice field is one of many geographic features in the area between the main divide of the Southern Alps and the Adams Range which share biblical names, a convention first established by the earliest explorers to the area. The Garden's remote location and difficult conditions make research difficult, especially with restrictions on helicopter landings imposed through the designation of the area as Adams Wilderness Area in 2003. Despite this, the ice plateau has been a popular destination for tramping groups for over 80 years, with access routes from both coasts and easily reachable areas once on the plateau itself.
'Nobody on our team, or any of the scientists who reviewed our plans, predicted that it would be so hot down there. This geothermal activity may sound alarming but it is a wonderful scientific finding that could be commercially very significant for New Zealand.'