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Images for River Road; more images...

Images, UC QuakeStudies

A car stuck in a large pothole on River Road. The wheels on the right hand side of the car have fallen into the hole, leaving the car grounded against the road surface. The photographer comments, "This car belonged to a postal delivery worker - the NZ Post bike rack is mounted on the towbar. The owner must have biked home. Later a tow truck arrived to extract the car from the hole that had opened under its front wheel".

Images, UC QuakeStudies

A photograph captioned by BeckerFraserPhotos, "A section of Avonside Drive shows how the infrastructure is no longer maintained to the same level, with regard to roading, sewage and water services. Even the grass on the banks of the River Avon is no longer mown as regularly".

Images, UC QuakeStudies

A group of residents stand talking on the footpath beside River Road. The photographer comments, "Our neighbours were mostly already displaced by the Sep 4 2010 quakes. We all happened to arrive at the same time, so we had a good chat. From L-R; Deidre Crichton (389), Julie and Philip Cheyne (391), Marike Begg (363), Susannah and Kim Collins (383), Andy Corbin (389)".

Research Papers, Lincoln University

We examined the stratigraphy of alluvial fans formed at the steep range front of the Southern Alps at Te Taho, on the north bank of the Whataroa River in central West Coast, South Island, New Zealand. The range front coincides with the Alpine Fault, an Australian-Pacific plate boundary fault, which produces regular earthquakes. Our study of range front fans revealed aggradation at 100- to 300-year intervals. Radiocarbon ages and soil residence times (SRTs) estimated by a quantitative profile development index allowed us to elucidate the characteristics of four episodes of aggradation since 1000 CE. We postulate a repeating mode of fan behaviour (fan response cycle [FRC]) linked to earthquake cycles via earthquake-triggered landslides. FRCs are characterised by short response time (aggradation followed by incision) and a long phase when channels are entrenched and fan surfaces are stable (persistence time). Currently, the Te Taho and Whataroa River fans are in the latter phase. The four episodes of fan building we determined from an OxCal sequence model correlate to Alpine Fault earthquakes (or other subsidiary events) and support prior landscape evolution studies indicating ≥M7.5 earthquakes as the main driver of episodic sedimentation. Our findings are consistent with other historic non-earthquake events on the West Coast but indicate faster responses than other earthquake sites in New Zealand and elsewhere where rainfall and stream gradients (the basis for stream power) are lower. Judging from the thickness of fan deposits and the short response times, we conclude that pastoral farming (current land-use) on the fans and probably across much of the Whataroa River fan would be impossible for several decades after a major earthquake. The sustainability of regional tourism and agriculture is at risk, more so because of the vulnerability of the single through road in the region (State Highway 6).