2026 Geoscience Society of New Zealand Geoscience Lecture

5.00 pm, Tuesday 5 May, Quad 4 Lecture Theatre, Geology Building, University of Otago, 360 Leith Street, Dunedin

Do New Zealand’s active faults and volcanoes talk to each other? Insights from 25 years of trenching ancient faults

Dr Pilar Villamor, Earth Sciences New Zealand, Lower Hutt

In this lecture, Pilar will review 25 years of trenching active faults in volcanic environments. In that period, scientific perspectives have undergone a paradigm change from the simple use of volcanic stratigraphy as timelines for paleo-earthquake history to a realisation that volcanic and tectonic processes are so intimately connected that one cannot be understood without the other. Paleo-seismic data, combined with geomorphology, borehole data, and geophysics, reveal strong temporal links between fault ruptures and Taupo Volcanic Zone eruptions. In addition to the New Zealand work, Pilar will draw on worldwide historic examples and stress modelling to infer possible crustal processes that can explain these associations.

Pilar is an internationally respected earthquake geologist and principal scientist whose research on active faults and volcano–tectonic interactions in Aotearoa New Zealand has had a transformative impact on our understanding of natural hazards.

Come and have dinner and drinks with Pilar after the talk, all are welcome.