THE GEOLOGY OF NEW ZEALAND: A NEW STUDY ABROAD PROGRAMME THAT INVESTIGATES THE GEOLOGIC EVOLUTION OF NEW ZEALAND THROUGH A FIVE-WEEK FIELD CAMP COUPLED WITH A CAMPUS SEMESTER

Frontiers Abroad’s Geology of New Zealand study abroad programme is an innovative field-focused programme that incorporates a five-week field camp with a semester study at the University of Canterbury, Christchurch, New Zealand. The field camp is composed of five distinct geologic modules that introduce students to traditional field camp themes and techniques while investigating the geologic evolution of New Zealand. The programme’s objective is to provide students with a skill base of field focused techniques that will enable them to understand the fundamental causes and timescales of geologic processes. The modules are:

1. Tectonics in the Southern Alps: Introduction to geologic field mapping in an uplifted and deformed succession of Oligocene marine strata
2. Gondwanaland to New Zealand: reconstructing the geologic architecture of the South Island through ingneous and metamorphic mapping
3. Volcanoes & Humans - giveth life and taketh away: Mapping lava flows on Mt. Doom, cone construction and volcanic hazard management
4. Taupo Volcanic Zone: ignimbrite mapping in the most silicically active region on Earth
5. Surf and Turf: A study of a Holocene prograding dune system using ground penetrating radar, vibra-core, and total station surveying techniques

While field camps traditionally end during the completion of field work, the Geology of New Zealand programme emphasizes longitudinal learning and continues with a semester study at the University of Canterbury. Students enroll in four courses including a research course only offered to Frontiers Abroad students. During this course students focus on one of the programme’s mapping projects and develop a professional geologic map and a research paper on the area. This enables students to continue working on data collected during field camp and produce a high quality report and map. The campus course enables the field skills acquired during field camp and the programme learning objectives to be fairly assessed.