Seismic Study of the Northern South Island,

New Zealand

David Fee, Class of 2002

Dept. of Geology, Whitman College, Walla Walla, WA 99362.

        New Zealand lies at the transition between the Pacific and Australian plate, and in the northern South Island the plate boundary changes from a subduction zone to transform fault. The Marlborough Fault System absorbs much of the deformation in this transition zone, and is of high geologic interest. Besides conducting a regional seismic study, my thesis is focused on answering some of the unanswered questions in this region, such as the apparent lack of any definite association between earthquakes and the known fault locations, an apparent aseismic corridor in the northwest Nelson area for events shallower than 15 km, and the accuracy of the L22 sensors our project used.