The Alpine Fault is where oceanic tectonic plates the Pacific Plate and the Australian Plate meet. Image: AFScientists have revealed the earliest-known stirrings of New Zealand's big-risk Alpine Fault, in a study that could hold implications for plate tectonics globally. We know the Alpine Fault today as a major geological hazard and the on-land boundary between the constantly scrumming Pacific and Australian tectonic plates, spanning 600km between Milford Sound and Marlborough. "This is an insight into the deep Alpine Fault that cannot be gained in any other way," he said. A finger marks the point in rock amid the South Island's Alpine Fault where two tectonic plates divide.

Source: Otago Daily Times June 27, 2021 00:45 UTC