Leveraging the combined strengths of genetics and geology, a team of researchers from the University of Otago has revealed a previously unidentified zone of coastal uplift in Rarangi, Marlborough, that was hiding in plain sight. This unknown earthquake uplift region was unearthed using a combinat
By combining the scientific powerhouses of genetics and geology, University of Otago researchers have identified a new area of coastal uplift, which had been hiding in plain sight.
Credit: Felix Vaux A University of Otago study has revealed how earthquake upheaval has affected New Zealand s coastal species. Lead author Dr Felix Vaux, of the Department of Zoology, says earthquakes are typically considered devastating events for people and the environment, but the positive opportunities that they can create for wildlife are often overlooked. For the Marsden-funded study, published in Journal of Phycology, the researchers sequenced DNA from 288 rimurapa/bull-kelp plants from 28 places across central New Zealand. All specimens from the North Island were expected to be the species Durvillaea antarctica, but unexpectedly 10 samples from four sites were Durvillaea poha - about 150 km from the nearest population on the Kaik?ura Peninsula, Dr Vaux says.