Alexander McKay was a self-educated geologist who worked for the Geological Survey from 1873 to 1906. As a result of his field observations, especially of faulting associated with the 1886 North Canterbury earthquake, he coined the term ‘active fault’. He deduced that the mountains of New Zealand were uplifted by the cumulative effects of many small fault movements associated with earthquakes. McKay’s work was overlooked for many years.

Learn more at the Dictionary of New Zealand Biography
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