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Group 2 Photo Project - Geology's Role in Agriculture
Exfoliation is another process in which rock at earth's surface is worn away to create soil. In this photo you can see a rock that has formed deep in the earth and has been exposed at the surface. This expands and gradually breaks into sheets. Look towards the middle of the photo to see a good example of exfoliation.
Authur's Pass is one of only 3 land route from the west coast of New Zealand's South Island to the east coast. Being so isolated makes farming difficult, because it is hard to transport products to ports and markets so people can buy them. Roads in the passes can be blocked by falling rocks or closed for the entire winter by snow.
Weathering is the process by which all rocks at the earth's surface get broken down to eventually create soil. In this photo you can see how the big rock has been broken down into smaller and smaller rocks. Plants also help breaking down the rocks when the roots try to grow into the cracks of the rocks.
In this photo you see the hangi after it is done being uncovered. In that box Maori people usually cook kumara, which is a type of sweet potatoes, and different kinds of meat.
Igneous rocks, or rocks that come from volcanos, are the best for this method of cooking, because they can withstand the most heat. These types of rocks are common in this area of the North Island, which has many volcanos, such as Mt. Edgecumbe.
Hangi is a method of cooking used by the native Maori people of New Zealand. This method uses the soil to create an underground or ground oven to cook the food. In addition to the role of providing nutrients for plants to grow, the soil also works as a blanket that keeps the heat inside in order to cook the food. Have you ever had food that was prepared in a steamer? Think about the pressure cooker you might have at home.
The Otago Region is situated in the southern part of the South Island of New Zealand. The Central Otago area produces award winning wines made from varieties such as the Pinot Noir, Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc, Merlot, and Riesling grapes. Central Otago has an increasing reputation as New Zealand’s leading pinot noir region. You can see in the photo how the grapes are grown. Do you know why they have planted roses at the end of each row?
A wider terrace with farmland on top of it. The nutrients left on the floodplain make the soil on larger terraces fertile. The hills in the background mark the border of the old floodplain.
Kawarau Bridge, near Queenstown on the South Island. Kawarau Bridge is billed as the birthplace of bungee jumping. It is here that AJ Hackett, a New Zealander, started the first commercial bungee jumping site. The bridge joins two terraces on the side of a river. Terraces are floodplains that have been abandoned by a river as it carves out a new channel lower down. Whereas the area used to flood on a regular basis, the river is too far down now. Notice the milky color of the river, which means it is carrying a lot of sediment.
A close picture of a river. Notice how the water is gray from the amount of silt being carried by it. This milky appearance is characteristic of rivers carrying the fine loess soil important to farming from the glaciers in the mountain down to the plain, or out to sea as on the west coast.
Europeans were not the first people to farm New Zealand. The native Maori people introduced these animals to the island when they arrived in New Zealand and kept them for food. The word the Maori use to describe the animal translates into English as "Fat Fat Pig".
When farming in other parts of the world, forests are burned to make room for crops and grazing land. The ashes are mixed with the soil to provide nutrients to grow crops. Once these nutrients are used up, the forest is allowed to grow back and the process again. In New Zealand, however, the native forest grows too slowly for this to take place. In this photo, native forest is just starting to grow back after being cut down by the original colonists over 150 years ago.
A close up of the rocks just in front of Fox Glacier. These rocks are not quite as fine as the loess soil, and thus have not been carried far by the river running out of the glacier. These rocks are dragged along the bedrock by the ice sheet, grinding each other finer and finer until loess soil is created and carried away by the melting ice.
The way to combat overgrazing is to rotate grazing areas. By not letting the animals graze in one field too long, and allowing grasses and plants to grow back, erosion can be minimized. In this picture of Akaroa Harbor, the fences and hedges used to separate fields can be seen.
As sheep farming became less profitable, farmers have started herding elk instead. The elk at this farm are selectively breed in order to produce venison and sold to other farmers. Additionally, the antlers can be sold for a variety of uses, including medicines and as trophies.
The elk being kept on the farm are similar to the white tailed deer native to Pennsylvania, but are significantly bigger. The one in this species, a female kept by the farmers as a pet, stands as tall as an adult human.
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