Story: West Coast places
The Alpine Fault can be seen as a low scarp cutting across the grassy river terraces at Marble Hill recreation area. This locality was first described by geologist Harold Wellman in 1952, when he showed that older (higher) terraces had been offset more than lower (younger) ones. The simplest explanation is that there have been repeated movements along the Alpine Fault accompanying earthquakes over the last 4,000 years. It was the first time that evidence for repeated movements on faults had been found in New Zealand.
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Private collection
Reference: H. W. Wellman, 'The Alpine Fault in detail: river terrace displacements at Maruia River'. New Zealand journal of science and technology 33, no 5b (1952): 409–14
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