A full expedition onto Fox Glacier was on tap for the day’s activity. The weather didn’t appear to want to cooperate as the clouds loomed heavily over the valley, dropping intermittent precipitation. However, a beautiful thing happened and the rain stayed put for the vast majority of the day.
There are two glacial areas within a half hour of each other, Franz Joseph and Fox. Franz is the heavily touristed location while Fox literally has a population under 200. My desire was not to share the day with multitudes of my fellow tourists so I chose the Fox accommodations and tour. We only had a total of 5 people plus our guide for the day. This made for a much more nimble experience where the group was able to climb much higher into the ice fields than when larger numbers are present.
Check out the scale of the face when compared to the people starting their ice climb ascent. (Hint: look in the upper left portion of the picture above where the ice turns from grey to white. Those specks are actually people.)
The Fox Glacier is situated only a few thousand meters from the Tazman Sea. At one point during the mini ice age of the mid-1600’s the glacier even flowed right into the salted sea. In heavy melt or rain periods a layer several meters thick of fresh water flows on top of the heavier salted at the mouth of the Fox River. Another geological phenomenon is that the Indo-Australian tectonic plate meets the Pacific plate directly in front of the current face of the glacier. The fault crevice is clearly visible as it intersects the glacial forge, with the appearance of a narrow valley. (This is the San Andreas Fault equivalent for New Zealand.)
To climb Fox Glacier we needed to attach cramp-ons to our boots and patiently follow our guide as he cut stairs into the ice. The progress was slow at times but the views were well worth the slow progress.
Given the overcast day, we were treated to an exceptional show of “blue ice” which would be white washed out in stronger lighting conditions. The “blue ice” is a result of the stronger red, orange, and yellow light waves penetrating the ice surface while the weaker blue waves are refracted backwards.
Two other immediate byproducts of the glacier are evident while hiking, volumes of the purest water available and distinct collections of what is not, i.e. glacial sediment/sludge. This sediment either collects in the bottom of melted pools or incredibly is squeezed from the ice face like play-do. The sediment is prized by spas for facial treatments and is the consistency mercury. (In this picture the water is so pure and clear its level is hard to see.)
New Zealand Geological Interests
• Mountain Soil – There really isn’t much to speak of. Most of the alpine forests are growing in less than three inches of topsoil. This starts as algae on rock, then moss attaches, followed by small ground plants such as ferns, then shrubs. After many years of leaf clutter build up and decomposition, as well as the shading from the mid-level undergrowth an environment conducive to canopy trees develops and beech trees take root. Beech trees are very shallow rooted and reasonably unstable. So, in drought years or foul weather tree avalanches are common. Given the steep slopes and the weight of the trees an avalanche effectively clears everything down to raw rock and the process begins again. A complete cycle can be accomplished is between 50 to 100 years.
• Beech Trees and Tectonics – Beech trees are a truly ancient/pre-historic species. They do not have the ability to raft seeds via streams, as they are heavy, porous, and rot in the presence of standing water. Airborne transportation is not an option either given the weighty and non-aerodynamic seed construction. So the seeds literally fall and start to grow within a branches distance of the parent. Now the link to plate tectonics. The same species of Beech tree has been found in southern Australia, frozen under the ice in Antarctica, and on the southern tip of South America. This then is used as proof of the super continent and continental drift theory, as the presence of the same species of Beech tree in all locations suggests the continental connection of these currently four distinct landmasses.
• North Island vs. South Island – The south island is currently under construction via tectonic plate movement of the Indo-Australian plate pushing up against the Pacific. This forms the Southern Alps, which rise dramatically out of the sea providing snowfields and glaciers practically to the sea’s edge. The only other location in the world with this characteristic is in Patagonia, South America. While volcanic activity is present in the south island, the volume pales in comparison to the north island, which is noticeably volcanic, including multiple hot mud and water locations and a volcano rimming Auckland. Just as earthquakes are commonplace to the south island, there is the expectation of “when” not “if” there will be an eruption on the north island.
