GEOMORPHIC INVESTIGATIONS IN NEW ZEALAND: RESULTS FROM UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN-EAU CLAIRE’S INTERNATIONAL FELLOWS PROGRAM

The International Fellows Program for Research, Service, and Creative Activity at the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire is an innovative program that capitalizes on the strength and success of high impact academic experiences and is dedicated to supporting international student-faculty collaborative research. This unique program provided financial, logistical and administrative support for three undergraduate students to actively participate in an intensive three week field research campaign on the South Island of New Zealand during January 2014. The presentation will outline details of the collaborative program with the University of Canterbury and University of Melbourne as well as provide results from three field research sites: Haast, Rangitata Valley, and Farewell Spit. At each field site, after initial reconnaissance, shallow subsurface geophysical surveys were undertaken. These surveys included both ground penetrating radar (GPR) and electrical imaging (EI). At site 1, we imaged the internal stratigraphy of what is interpreted to be Alpine Fault rupture induced coastal dune formations. These sand ridge features can be seen building outward from and parallel to the coast in South Westland near the mouth of the Haast River and its littoral cell. At the second site, we collected transects on the large braidplain of the Rangitata River, northwest of Lake Clearwater within the Southern Alps. Working in the shadow of Mount Sunday, we successfully imaged tens of meters into the braided river deposits. Our third site, Farewell Spit, also known to the Maori people as Tuhuroa, is located on the northernmost part of the South Island. This little studied coastal spit is 25 km long and is mantled by a wind-blown landscape - sand sheets and dunes. We investigated several features including a barchan dune migrating west to east across the spit. Using various GPR frequencies (50, 100 and 200 MHz) we were able to image the internal structure (steeply dipping reflections) of an active dune and confirm our interpretation by coring the feature. The IFP program at the University of Wisconsin – Eau Claire demonstrates that undergraduate students can successfully carry out an international research program.