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Auckland Branch
Who Are We?
Contacts:
Branch Rep: Dan Hikuroa - d.hikuroa_at_auckland.ac.nz
GeoClub: Bruce Hayward - b.hayward_at_geomarine.org.nz or Hugh Grenfell - h.grenfell_at_geomarine.org.nz
What is "GeoClub'?
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Established in 1992 at Auckland Museum the GeoClub is now part of the Auckland Branch of the Geological Society of New Zealand at Auckland University. The Club is a mix of enthusiastic amateurs and professionals who share a common interest in the study and understanding of Aucklandís geology and fossils and has a membership of approximately 100.
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No previous knowledge or understanding of geology is required to become a member, although most of our members started by taking an adult education course or a geology paper at University. The main requirement is an enthusiasm to understand something about the long history of the earth and our region.
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Recent Club field trips have included visits to Hokianga, East Cape, Rotorua, Port Waikato, Waihi Gold Mine, Puketotara Peninsula, Kawau Island, the Miranda coast, Piha, Browns Island, Pollen Island, Whangaparoa, the Hillsborough coast, Queens Street building stones, Takapuna fossil forest to mention a few. 
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Geology is a hobby that families and people of all ages can enjoy. It gets you out into the open air and is a great way to exercise. It takes you to fascinating places you have never visited before and above all you will start seeing the landscape with new eyes. No longer will you just see sheep grazing on hills. You will start to see the lava flows, the fault lines, the folded strata that control the shape of the hills, ancient river terraces and coastal plains.
What do we do?
What's On
NEXT MEETINGS & FIELD TRIPS
June's monthly meeting had an enthusiastic turnout to hear Peter Crossley give a comprehensive and interesting account of Auckland's lava caves. 18 Geoclubbers turned out for a spectacular sunny day walk around the little visited shores of Whitford Bay. There was strong evidence for a Holocene high stand terrace and a last interglacial terrace about 10 m above sea level, suggesting some uplift in the last 100 kyr. No good explanation could be found for a very large boulder of silicified brecciated sinter (?from Coromandel) sitting on the foreshore - it seemed too large and heavy to have been used for ship ballast. If you have not already noted our meeting this month reverts to the third Tuesday in July for the Hochstetter Lecture at the Museum. From August we return (?permanently) to the second MONDAY of the month at Gillies Ave.
Geocene 6 needs contributions. Email Helen Holzer heleneh@xtra.co.nz (get acknowledgement). Numbers 1-5 can be downloaded from www.gsnz.org.nz/information/auckland-i-46.html#mag
NEXT MEETINGS: Auckland War Memorial Museum rear entrance, 7.30 PM - TUESDAY 20th JULY, 7.30 PM. Hochstetter Lecture, Auckland War Memorial Museum back entrance. "A geochemist's window into Earth's origins, past and future." by Prof Joel Baker, Victoria University.
- MONDAY 19th JULY, 1PM. Hochstetter supporting lecture "Super-eruptions in Yemen.". Geology Building, UoA, Stage 1 Lab, Level 2.
Epsom Community Centre, 200 Gillies Ave, Epsom. Door opens at 7.15 PM for 7.30 PM start
- MONDAY 9th AUGUST, 7.30 PM. "Auckland's climate over the last 50,000 yrs" by Tom Stevens (PhD student) and "Molecular proxies for Auckland's palaeoclimate" by Dan Aitkin (PhD student). Talking about their studies on sediment cores from Auckland's volcanic craters.
NEXT FIELD TRIPS: - SUNDAY 8th AUGUST Explore Ambury Farm Park lava flow field and small caves. Leader Bruce Hayward. Roam the farmed fields and coastline examining some of the interesting lava flow structures, small caves and overhangs - possibly enter one of the larger ones. Low tide at 2.50 PM. Meet at Ambury Regional Farm Park carpark at 10 AM. Bring some lunch, a torch and appropriate clothing and footwear. If weather is unfriendly phone Bruce (523 1667) at 9.00 AM for possible postponement. Rating: Relatively easy flat walking on grassy fields and tracks, optional lava cave may be slightly more difficult access.
- LONG WEEKEND TRIP, FRI 3rd - MON 6th DEC, WHANGAREI. Leader Bruce Hayward. Explore the geology of the Whangarei region - basalt, andesite, dacite, rhyolite volcanoes; Cret-Oligocene Northland Allochthon, Eocene-Miocene in-situ sequence. Rating: Moderately easy, occasional longer walk or slightly harder portion. Car pool. All stay in pre-booked motel. Mark your calendar now, book and pay your deposit next month.
When & Where
CLUB NIGHTS are on the SECOND MONDAY OF EACH MONTH, except January, 7.30 PM, at the Epsom Community Centre, 200 Gillies Ave, Epsom, Auckland. NEW MEMBERS ARE INVITED TO JOIN US
ANY ENQUIRIES: Ring Hugh Grenfell, during day, ph: 578 1491,
email h.grenfell_at_geomarine.org.nz
GEOCENE MAGAZINE
Geocene is a periodic publication of GeoClub, a section of the Auckland branch of the Geological Society of New Zealand.
Contributions about the geology of New Zealand (particularly northern New Zealand) from members are welcome. Please note articles are not refereed.
Please email the Editor, Helen Holzer - heleneh_at_xtra.co.nz (substitute @ for _at_).
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