Do New Zealand’s active faults and volcanoes talk to each other? Insights from 25 years of trenching ancient faults

Pilar Villamor

 7.30 pm Tuesday, 17 March, Palmerston North Central Library, George Street, Palmerston North

Held jointly with Geoscience Society of New Zealand

This year’s Geoscience Tour lecture will review 25 years of trenching active faults in volcanic environments and how scientists’ perspectives on tectonics close to volcanoes changed through that time, from the simple utilisation of volcanic stratigraphy as timelines for paleo- earthquake history to a realisation that volcanic and tectonic processes are so intimately connected that one cannot be understood without the other. Pilar will show paleoseismic evidence based on criteria that she developed to distinguish types of earthquake-eruption associations. Paleoseismic data, combined with geomorphology, borehole data, and geophysics, revealed strong temporal links between fault ruptures and volcanic eruptions. She will also draw on worldwide historic examples and stress modelling to infer possible crustal processes that can explain these time associations. Collectively, these studies improve our understanding of how volcanic eruptions and unrest are linked to active faults and earthquakes in the TVZ.

Pilar Villamor is an internationally respected earthquake geologist and principal scientist whose research on active faults and volcano-tectonic interactions in Aotearoa New Zealand has had a transformative impact on our understanding of natural hazards.