Partnership for Discoveries at the Far End of the World

Although New Zealand is on the other side of the world, it's not an unusual destination for researchers from the GEOMAR Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research in Kiel. Many expeditions start or end in the Pacific island nation's ports because the structures surrounding New Zealand fall within the research focus "Hazards and Benefits of the Seafloor". The region is renowned for its geological activity. To the north of New Zealand lies one of the most active plate boundaries on Earth, where the Pacific plate is subducting beneath the Australian plate. As part of the Pacific Ring of Fire, there are submarine volcanoes and hot deep-sea springs. Twenty years ago, large gas hydrate deposits were discovered off the coast of New Zealand, which have been a focus of GEOMAR's research for many years. Therefore, scientists often work closely with their New Zealand colleagues to learn more about the complex geology off New Zealand's coasts.

The signing of a cooperation agreement between the New Zealand institute GNS Science, Te Pū Ao, and GEOMAR confirms the close cooperation between the two countries in the field of marine science. Under the agreement, the two research institutes will pool their resources to study processes at subduction zones, underwater volcanoes and the state of coastal waters.

The next expeditions with the German research vessel SONNE will take place in March in Cook Strait, the strait between New Zealand's two main islands, and in May at the 2000-kilometre-long chain of underwater volcanoes in the Kermadec Arc, northeast of the Bay of Plenty. Three major projects will study submarine landslides and volcanic activity over the next few years.

In Cook Strait, the dynamics of submarine canyons are being studied to better assess the risk of landslides and the hazards they pose. This is part of the MAWACAAP project (Quantifying the role of mass wasting in submarine canyons on active and passive margins).

In the SUBTRANS (Subduction to Strike-Slip Transition) project, GNS Science and GEOMAR will jointly investigate the transition of the two geological phenomena from subduction (one tectonic plate sinking beneath another) to strike-slip faulting (horizontal movements along the Earth's crust).

The BRASS (Brothers Volcano Seismic Structure) project will study the collapse of the caldera of Brothers Volcano in the Kermadec Arc.

In addition to the German-led voyages, there will be joint expeditions with American and New Zealand vessels to the Hikurangi subduction zone east of New Zealand's North Island.

GNS Chief Scientist Gary Wilson said the agreement with GEOMAR would significantly strengthen New Zealand's marine geology research capability: “Our two organisations share a similar vision. We are confident that this collaboration will lead to a new era of discovery and understanding”.

On the German side, the head of the Marine Geodynamics Research Unit at GEOMAR, geophysicist Professor Dr Christian Berndt, is responsible for the cooperation. He emphasised that GEOMAR has long benefited from close research links with GNS Science in a number of marine science disciplines: “This new agreement strengthens our relationship at a time when German-New Zealand scientific initiatives are flourishing”.