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Story: Marlborough region

Awatere Fault

Image
Awatere Fault

The Awatere Fault shows up clearly in this image. It shapes the course of the Awatere River, visible to its right. Along with the Wairau Fault (an extension of the Alpine Fault) and the Clarence and Kēkerengū faults, the Awatere Fault is symptomatic of the subduction of the Pacific Plate under the Australian Plate.

Using this item

GNS Science

Reference: CN03947/9

by Lloyd Homer

Permission of GNS Science must be obtained before any use of this image.

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How to cite this page

Malcolm McKinnon, Marlborough region – Geology and landscape, Te Ara – the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, https://teara.govt.nz/en/photograph/31736/awatere-fault (accessed 11 June 2026).

Story by Malcolm McKinnon, published 9 May 2011, updated 1 November 2016.