The Geologic Oddity in New Zealand; The Banks Peninsula 

I live in Lyttelton! My house is perched right up high on the side of the crater overlooking the Port. Thanks for such a great reminder of my local geology and for such a fascinating channel 🌋

That pronunciation of Dunedin caused me physical pain

I lived in Christchurch for a decade. It is totally flat, and even though you can see the hills of the bank's peninsula, it still felt bizarre seeing Littleton after such a sort of journey through the tunnel. You arrive in a completely different land.

1 little thing ...... Dunedin is Pronounced as Done Eden - Dun being the Gaelic for Fort , it's the Old Gaelic name of Edinburgh in Scotland

Lived here my whole life, hiked it, surfed it, swam it, admittedly haven’t done any diving, but I still feel like I could spend a whole lifetime exploring nooks and crannies and then need an additional lifetime to see the rest and then some. Blessed to grow up here.

living in New Zealand is mind boggling with the amount of different landscapes in such a small country, we're unbelievably lucky.

I live near here. The landscape is so beautiful, with evidence of volcanism and ancient sea erosion (cliffs!) before the plains built up. The plains are almost entirely gravel. Fun fact: the Waimakariri river used to run south of the peninsula, through where Waihora/Lake Ellesmere is now. Most of Christchurch is sitting on the Waimak's shingle fan.

did anyone else here how he said dunedin.🤣

You did very well on pronunciation of the Maori names, but Dunedin is Dun-ee-din, it has Scottish-Gaelic roots. Thanks for the vid! I never thought about the lack of volcanoes in the South Island. You'll get tons of kiwis in the comments I'm sure.

I live in New Zealand and was not aware of this, you never stop learning.

The road to Akaroa is awesome on a motorbike. The cafe's and B and B's make it a great spot for a weekend getaway.

Thanks for this vid. The geology of Banks Peninsula is amazing. It's just a marvellous place to go walking and there are numerous campgrounds in the bays. We are very lucky that you can go from the centre of town to the top of the hills in just 15 mins with views right over the ocean and to the alps. The vast majority of the sediment that has built up the Canterbury plains (between Banks Peninsula and the Southern Alps) is made up of a slightly metamorphosed rock commonly known as Geywacke (it's a biotitic quartz arenite that was originally sediment eroded off the Great Dividing Range in what is now Queensland.. Bury it, heat it..... voila) deposited by the 3 main rivers whose source is in the alps. They migrate across the plains very slowly but also undergo rapid avulsion and find a new course each time the massive strike/slip Alpine Fault ruptures. We end up with interbedded layers of course gravels and cobbles with overbank fines from flood events. Lake Ellesmere, seen at 01:30 , never gets much above your head and used to extend about 2/3 the way around Banks Peninsula. While testing I find lacustrine sediments covered over with alluvial silts right up to the boundary of the city. Then those deposits swap to marine deposited sands for the rest of the way around the peninsula. In fact it is one of the more complicated sedimentary deposit areas I have dealt with. In a 20m bgl test I can find alluvial silts, peat from marshes and riparian vegetation, marine sands, small tsunami deposits, aelion loess, colluvial and landslip jumbled messes, large clast river deposits from fault rupture or glacial dam breaks. Never a dull day trying to figure that cat's breakfast out. That the volcanic complex was twice as high and an island is a great way for me to teach my kids about the changes that can take place over geologic timescales. You could easily fill 50 videos with New Zealand geology. Sorry for rambling. Geology....you get it. Thanks again.

I live in Christchurch! Thanks very much for this. I can see the northwestern flanks of the Port Hills from my lounge window. An uncle lives in Church Bay on the east side of the Lyttelton caldera.

I have lived in Christchurch for the last 25 years of my life and the port hills or banks peninsula have always been a place of amazement. loved flying r/c planes off castle rock before the earthquakes a while back. thanks for the great content

🌱🌏💚 Chatham Island also. Dunedin has impressive jam roll and pillow lava.

Been to Akaroa many times as a kid... would love to go back... informative! considering I was born in CHCH, I didn't know I was living next to an extinct volcano! So cool how it was formed and then just died to create such a beauty of a place

Geologic Oddity was one of David Bowie's lesser known songs...

I know this part of the world only from maps and the wonderful street view, when I was checking the influence of the strong earthquakes of Christchurch on the city by the history of pictures. Of course I went virtually also in that peninsula. The contrast of this very mountainous peninsula and the flat parts in the northwest is impressive. While I was able to explain the flat areas with erosion from the New Zealand Alps, the peninsula was still a mystery for me. Thanks for this video, it explains my unasked questions. The two bays, I think, are wonderful natural harbours in case of rough weather conditions, which I guess are quite common in that part of New Zealand. Have a nice day 🖐👴

I remember exploring quail Island in the middle of lyttleton harbor when I was a kid. It has jagged lava flows in places that look like they only solidified yesterday. I could never understand why they were in such an unweathered state for a volcano that stopped erupting millions of years ago. Perhaps they were buried and only exposed more recently.

You pack more good information into your short videos than any other I've watched. Well done, and thank you! Great video!

Dun-ee-den Great video, I took a geology volcanic class at University of Canterbury and we mapped part of the Lyttleton volcano

Akaroa has some really interesting history behind it too, in 1838 the French Captain Langlois set out and began a colony in Akaroa. After the signing of the treaty of Waitangi in 1840, the French colonists there essentially gave up on trying to create an independent colony, and assimilated into the other British settlers there. You can see the French influence there today, with place names such as Duvauchelle, and French-inspired buildings (one such example is the Langlois-Éteveneaux House, which is the only surviving house erected by the French settlers).

New Zealand (and Zealandia as a whole, really) is like one giant geologic oddity made up of geologic oddities. I feel like Earth earlier in its evolution (though not super early, with the massive oceans, small plates, and gargantuan shield volcanoes) would somewhat resemble it, with the thin half sunken continental crust, obduction, intense subduction and back arc rifting, and volcanoes formed by unusual processes.

Thank you for this video!! I live near banks peninsula and have enjoyed many adventures around the various bays and hills. Fascinating to hear how it was created in so much detail, I always was told it was made by volcanoes but it's amazing to understand in this detail

So happy to watch your profoundly informative videos! Thank you very much!

The scale of the erosion is really incredible. Beautiful scenery.

I have climbed these mountains and valleys, beautiful living in christchurch and seeing these every morning makes my day.

Great video, and great comments. Captain Cook ( english explorer ) named it Banks Island after the botanist onboard his ship. If he had gone ashore and climbed up to the rim of the volcanic crater he would have seen the entire Canterbury Plains with the Southern Alps that stretch the length of the South Island in the distance. The English settlement of Christchurch ( there is one in England as well ) was built on a swampland left after they redirected the Waimakariri River to flow north of ChCh ( short for Christchurch ) and when they tried digging a canal from the estuary of the Avon and Heathcote Rivers ( more like drains than rivers now ) they discovered very quickly that the seawater was starting to flow downhill towards the center of Ch Ch !!! So they gave up that idea of using english barges towed by horses to move everything from a wharf at Redcliffs. I was raised in ChCh and have spent many, many hours exploring the entire area. If you are visiting ChCh, put aside plenty of time because there is so much to do in this area. I have a yacht moored in Lyttelton and it is a great area to do some sailing. If you can, stop at one of the many airB&B's on the northern side above ChCh ( Sumner to Cashmere suburbs ) and enjoy the night lights of ChCh and the views. Taylor's Mistake is the best surf beach, and do a paragliding tandem flight off the Summit Rd above it. You are permitted to walk all over the DOC administered land on the entire Peninsula, and there are camping grounds in almost all of the bays.

Great video. Fascinating subject. Thank you from England.

Love ur content! I used to study in Christchurch back for my undergraduate degrees (I’m taking geology) but I never learnt about the history of the bankspeninsula and find this content really informative! Now I’m doing postgraduate in Iceland and this really make me miss south Island and its fascinating geology 😢

Under 5 minutes, packed with detail and super interesting. Nice work

I was at Akaroa last Sunday and at Lyttleton on Monday during the long Labour day weekend. Looking at the mountain range it does resemble a volcano in nature and it's incredible the eruption occurred over 20 million years ago when Zealandia existed back then. Thanks for making this educational vid mate! 😃🇳🇿

My old stomping ground - great cycling and great fishing. I now live in Brisbane, a vid about the volcanic history of this area would be fascinating, we've got the Glasshouse mountains and the whole region is pretty much long eroded volcanoes.

Absolutely love you videos. Would enjoy some videos about NZ South Island especially Dunedin/Otago region. Keep up the amazing work!

I set three of my books into that landscape: "Timetwister" (Avondale), "The Triggerstone" (Akaroa - effectively) and "Silicone Stew" (Cashmere Hills). Anyone from the area would easily recognise the exact locations. And yes: I've always been in awe of that VERY volcanic landscape! Stunning. Travelled across a hundred+ times.

All around here is my homeland, more in particular Christchurch. I now live on the North Island of New Zealand. Thanks for sharing😊

Love your geologic discussions. I will forward this to my friend in NZ.

When i visited that area as an adult some 30 years ago I stood on the port hills and looked in wonder ,,that has to be extinct volcano's ! so I did some research and boom...cheers for the vid .. could you do one on how far up the north island the Taupo eruption went as a MTBiker it looks to me like it reached right up into the Waipa just south of rotorua baisin and maybe even breached via the hemo gorge...the bluffs that roun S/W towards artiamuri are pat of the rotorua caldera event ? or a different one...cheers appreciate the local conent

Cheers!! Great to have better understanding/ description of how our Islands formed.🙏🙏🙏 Truely a special place

I’ve been there. All over it. It dominates the skyline in Christchurch. Beautiful place.

From the Christchurch side you can walk up to what was the rim and overlooks Lyttleton. Good walk, used to do it every night to keep fit. 👍🇳🇿🥝

Very well done I was hoping you would cover this one

Great video. I live on the plains just beside these bays. I love walking around the Lyttleton caldera, and there's particular landmarks like Gibraltar Rock that always fascinate me. Let me know if you ever want a local to go rock hunting for you

Thank you for featuring my local volcanic feature, which I look at practically every day! :)

Thanks for this. This is the first time I've seen an significant detail on the volcanic past of this area of the country where I live. I knew Banks Peninsula and Dunedin harbour were old shield volcanoes but knew little about the eruptive history.

Very interesting. Thank you. Loved your pronunciation of Dunedin. 🤗 Dun-ead-in is how the locals say it.

I live in chrischurch and 22 minutes drive to port hill and birdling flat was just amazing it got lot’s of agates and other volcanic rocks they are mainly washed down from mount somers and settles in birdling flat.

Question: so did these 2 volcanoes help build New Zealand? Fascinating...

I spent most of my teens living in Lyttleton. The views really were amazing.

The Banks peninsula looks so weird! It has alot of volcanic cones, but thanks to erosion, it looks ragged, unassuming and rough, I like it! Zealandia, as mentioned by different comments, is a geologic oddity itself. It is one of several microcontinents, which are landmasses smaller than the usual 7. Another microcontinent is the Kergulen (may have misspelt that) plateau in the southern indian ocean, where the Kergulen islands are located. Tectonic rifting can be an immensely complex process. Other than a rift dividing plates from each other, the rift may suddenly change course, fork into two, go one path before starting another path and connecting the two paths, etc. etc. The complex process of rifting can be observed in the Atlantic Ocean, where the Mid-Ocean ridge forked from the usual route to between Greenland and Canada On top of that, northwest of Great Britain, there’s another complex situation where the Mid-Atlantic ridge jumped several times, producing a piece of continental crust that was left put in the middle of the ocean. Interestingly, Zealandia’s western part fits with Australia’s eastern part. It is also interesting how much land erosion, uplift and volcanism (even explosive volcanism) can add. When Mount Vesuvius erupted, the bay was extended by a lot. Herculaneum, once at the coast of the bay, is now no longer near it- It is much further away. When Mount Tambora erupted in 1815, its summit collapsed but its puroclastic flows and surges seemed to have extended the volcano’s land area. On top of that, shifting volcanic vents also occur on many other volcanoes, like monogenetic volcanic fields, complex volcanoes like Etna, Fuji, Mount Baker, Kilimanjaro, Emi Koussi, Ararat, some supervolcanoes and caldera systems and complexes like Toba, Yellowstone, Taupo, La Garita, Valles caldera and Long Valley caldera, maybe Aira caldera and Aso caldera can be considered as well, La Pacana, etc.etc. Do note that when I was referring to the shifting vents of supervolcanoes, I was referring to their other eruption types other than supereruptions. Supervolcanoes don’t always erupt in supereruptions. They can extrude lava flows, lava domes and produce phreatic eruptions, phreatomagmatic eruptions, deform the land, producing uplift and subsidence, etc. etc. There’s no need to be very terrified of a supervolcanic eruption, because it is unlikely it will happen soon. To those fearmongers, stop it. do research and supervolcanoes aren’t always super-violent, nor do they always erupt in a supereruption. Yellowstone has produced more eruptions in the last 2.5 million years other than the 3 large, cladera forming megaeruptions and supereruptions. That being said, are there any other types of volcanism other than the usual (Subduction volcanoes, hotspots, lithospheric drip, etc.) ones?

Great vid. Went to Akaroa to build a couple of houses. I purchased one and brought up the kids there while staying for twenty years. Happy times. Bernie

The whole area is very beautiful, with lots of narrow winding roads and fantastic views.

The details are a bit mind boggling. Thanks very much for all that effort.

Valuable and enjoyable information. THANK YOU.

I lived on banks peninsula for 15 years including 5 yrs at Landsend at the southern heads of the peninsula. Was wonderful out there.

I used to live in Lyttelton in the 80s. Flew my hang glider from the Summit Road above Allandale in a good nor'easter, could stay up in the ridge lift, fly north west to Governor's Bay, south east to Gebbies Pass. The lift was so reliable, I could stay up for hours before I got too cold and stiff. Also flew from various sites above Little River, Okuti Valley and other random spots around Banks Peninsula.

Love this vlog - so clear and easy to understand. I live in Dunedin and would love you to do a vlog on the Dunedin volcanics

Thank you for the video! My brother lived near Akaroa for several years.

When I was young, we. Suited the Valles Caldera in New Mexico, it’s beauty has been seared in my brain. It has most recently been made famous and the ‘location’ of Longmire’s house in the TV series.

Oh how I wish I had access to this information back in the 80's! I probably would have over stayed my visa!!!

I love your content! The imagery is great even if it’s not exactly what you’re talking about in the moment I love it still lol

I'd love to go to NZ. Such a fascinating landscape.

Yep it was always a mystery for me what that volcanoOmauntain is. Thnaks for the insight. Some day wanna visit NZ

I live in Christchurch, New Zealand and the moment this video popped into my recommended I just had to see it, not many videos are made on the interesting geology of New Zealand which is a shame because there is so many oddities like this here.

Awesome content from our ancient volcanoes 👍🏻

Interesting. Thank you. I lived in Christchurch until 2012 and used to walk up the Bridal Path to look over into Lyttelton now I live less than an Hour from the Buttes in NorCal mentioned in this video.

There are numerous roads along the summit tops of the caldera. As a result there are also lots of suitable launch sites for hang gliding, parasails, RC slope soaring, and dynamic soaring. It's such a great location for aviating sports!

Thanks for the vid. Any infomation on the nearby Mount Somers volcanic activity? it's our favourite stomping ground for agate and crystal hunting.

Love this area. Camped on a beach on one of those small bays. Also almost died by driving off the narrow road... I was singing spice girls and did not see the super sharp turn. Slowed down JUST in time

There are several places around the volcano where you can see the layers of volcanic flows around the Banks Peninsula. this includes the ash and tuff layers as well and each one is huge

Visiting this area right now, thank you for the video gives me a better idea of the place

Soon as I saw the Google Maps image I thought, that looks just like the Sutter Buttes. The Buttes are in my backyard and are quite the sight.

Banks Peninsula is my favorite place on earth.. Worked on a farm near Le Bons Bay, for a couple of years in the 90. , went back to NZ, 3 years ago, and 1. stop was BP. Spend New Years eve in a forrest near Little River, and the sound of first the insects and then bird song around dawn, was breathtaking.. So was the drive from Hill Top to Le Bons Bay, via "the tourist route", but that was also nerv wrecking, pretty steep road and sharp bends, and all the Kiwis did it with 80 K/H. beautyful place.Going back some day, but right now the plane fare is tripled, so i wait..

Interesting video, every time I saw maps of the South Island it seemed interesting to me how it stands out in that sedimentation area

I first paid attention to the Banks peninsula after the Christchurch earthquake some years ago. The geologic story of this volcanic complex is definitely an interesting one.

I live further north in the Wairarapa and I am wondering if you could look at the region as a whole, maybe focussing on the impact of the many faultlines and how they have shaped the landscape today. Great vid too.

I was curious about this place as there are no other local volcanoes. Thanks for the explanation in cool video!

Totally fascinating thank you.

You must be stalking me mate since I was literally just in Akaroa and the Banks Peninsula a few days ago, by the time you uploaded this video I believe I was walking around the waterfront at Akaroa!

It's a great commute from Diamond Harbour to Christchurch; over hill and down dale as you wind your way around all the little bays.

Great video! While you're investigating volcanic oddities, you should do a video on the Cameroon Line.

Ahhh thank you for this, I'm originally from Christchurch, right next to banks peninsula

If visiting the area, take the Black Cat Tours swim with the endangered Hectors Dolphins in Akaroa harbour, and walk up to the Giant’s House on Rue Balguerie. Any of the restaurants and cafes are worth the visit too. Lovely locals, beautiful views, bloody freezing water. Black Cat supply thermals and very thick wet suits, but boys, your voice will still go up an octave when you jump in the water.

I live in banks Peninsula, thanks for the informative video!

Very interesting. Thanks. Is the idea of lithosphere falling into the asthenosphere supported by seismological data, or a similar event being observed elsewhere, or other evidence, or is it a hypothesis?

One of the most beautiful places I have ever lived! Miss it lots.

The way you said Dunedin made me chuckle.

its interesting how a foreigner is helping me learn more about my own country. the internet is amazing. i appreciate your work immensely

I can’t tell you how many times my mate and I would drive up the port hills get baked and watch the sun set and look down on Christchurch.

Yay! The volcano I asked about)))

I was just visiting Heathcote Valley on the Ōtautahi side of the peninsula, looking up at the long extinct crater which formed the valley's walls, and then this vid pops up for me to watch 💖 great vid, do research pronunciation tho, it can be tricky with not just the Maori names but the Pakeha ones too

Christchurch Resident Banks Peninsula will always be special to me, as the port hills to the south of the city dividing Lyttleton and Christchurch are practically visible from all over the city and into the Canterbury Plains. Driving in the port hills is a wonderful experience as the views of entire bays come and go all afternoon. I have a very fond memory of reaching the tip of one peninsula and seeing the pacific ocean with my dad. Beautiful place

I drive around there all the time. it has such good views, and fun roads.

It's absolutely nuts to think I ride my mountain bike down this wonder. Never realised how cool it was. I'm sure lots of people have already commented this but Dunedin is Duh - nee - din. However, better than most as lots of foreigners say doon din. Also big pat on the back for not butchering Akaroa. Great vid. A really cool thing I saw on a school trip is a wave of lava has hit the water as it was breaking and is frozen as it is breaking.

That was super interesting. I didn't know Te Waiponamu had any volcanoes; I thought it was all just land mass, and Te Ika A Maui had all the volcanisim.

We live right in the middle of BP between Little River and Port Levy Saddle. Loads of volcanic rock, baked red ash and clay. Can confirm this youtuber has it right. A rare thing. Nice job!

And best of all, they make for some killer cycling and trail running. I'd go insane without these hills nearby❤️

1:55 Can we just stop and appreciate the fact that he has photos of these eruptions from hundreds of thousands to millions of years ago?

The one place in recent years where I almost shat my pants driving a single lane road from one inlet to another on the peninsular. No barriers, no fences, just shear drops. An amazing place to visit ll the same as someone who has lived in many parts of NZ including Christchurch.

I was just on holiday here like 2 days ago, nice!