The Southern Alps
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Geologically, the Southern Alps lie along a plate boundary, part of the Pacific Ring of Fire. The Alpine Fault developed 25-30 million years ago, with the Indo-Australian Plate in the west pushing northwestward, the Pacific Plate to the east being subducted beneath it. The mountains that form the Alps continue to be uplifted by tectonic pressure, causing earthquakes on the Alpine Fault, but they are eroded at approximately the same rate.
Transcript of The Southern Alps
Geologically, the Southern Alps lie along a plate boundary, part of the Pacific Ring of Fire. The Alpine Fault developed 25-30 million years ago, with the Indo-Australian Plate in the west pushing northwestward, the Pacific Plate to the
east being subducted beneath it. The mountains that form the Alps continue to be uplifted by tectonic pressure, causing earthquakes on the Alpine Fault, but they are
eroded at approximately the same rate.
According to Ngai Tahu legend, Aoraki and his three brothers were on a sea voyage when their canoe
overturned on a reef. When the brothers climbed on top of their canoe, the freezing south wind turned them to stone. Aoraki and his brothers became the peaks of the Southern
Alps, while their canoe became the South Island.
![Rockglaciers genesis and growth in a degrading mountaincryosphere (Southern French Alps) [Monique Fort]](https://static.fdocuments.us/doc/165x107/55575a77d8b42a94728b4625/rockglaciers-genesis-and-growth-in-a-degrading-mountaincryosphere-southern-french-alps-monique-fort.jpg)
