Investigating the Marlborough Fault System by recreating a tectonic plate boundary in a sandbox
Channel: The Royal Society of Victoria
Date: 20/08/2020

NE South Island, New Zealand, is actively deforming with an evolving fault system that is linked to devastating and complex earthquakes, such as the 2016 magnitude 7.8 Kaikoura earthquake. The reason for the complexity of this earthquake remains a mystery because the structural geology and development of the fault system is poorly understood. Understanding the development of this active fault system will provide insight into transfer of tectonic forces within the region, and so provide explanations for the complexity of the Kaikoura earthquake and assist with earthquake hazard mapping and future risk mitigation.

Megan Withers is a final year PhD candidate with the School of Physics & Astronomy at Monash University. This presentation titled "Investigating the development of the Marlborough Fault System by recreating a tectonic plate boundary in a sandbox" comprises her entry to the Earth Sciences category of the Young Scientist Research Prizes in 2020, an annual competition conducted by the Royal Society of Victoria during National Science Week in Australia. Megan is the joint First Prize winner of this category, along with Hayden Dalton.

Due to Stage Four lockdown conditions in Victoria in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, this presentation was necessarily filmed on 13 August, 2020 and presented to judges at the Royal Society of Victoria on the evening 19 August, 2020, both via video conference.