New Zealand was originally part of the supercontinent Gondwana around 170 million years ago. It broke away from Gondwana around 80-60 million years ago, forming its own continental plate called Zealandia. As Zealandia separated from Australia and Antarctica over millions of years, most of its land mass sank beneath the sea. Around 23 million years ago, only a few scattered islands remained above sea level. Today, New Zealand is rising from the sea floor as the Pacific and Australian tectonic plates collide, creating new land. Flora and fauna arrived in New Zealand via wind, water or flying over the oceans from other land masses like Australia over millions of years.

1. New Zealand Land
Formation
Biology
Ms Gibellini
2014

2. How Was NZ formed?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pENq1ml2haA
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IfDhY32vP-c

3. 170 MYA
• NZ was part of a land mass
known as Gondwanaland
• http://www.sciencelearn.org.nz/Contexts/
Ferns/Sci-Media/Animations-and-
Interactives/Gondwana-animation

4. 130 MYA
• Africa, India and Madagascar detached and
moved away from Africa and South America
creating the Atlantic Ocean
• Australia, NZ and Antarctica were attached
to the southern end of South America and
called Autralis. It straddled the South Pole
BUT was ice free so temperate forests grew
there for millions of years

5. 80-60 MYA
• Autralis began to break up, NZ or Zealandia as it
was known broke away from Australia and the
Antarctic and the Tasman Sea formed.
• This took over 20 million years to occur!
• As it separated the land was stretched and thinned
out which is why much of the land is under the
sea today
• During this time period huge meteors and large
scale volcanic activity resulted in the extinction of
about half the plant and animals species on Earth
including dinosaurs

6. 23 MYA
• Zealandia was at its lowest point, it is thought
there were only a few scattered islands above sea
level, the largest in the Canterbury area
• As a result much of NZ is made from limestone
(formed under the sea by shells of dead sea
animals)
• Therefore almost all of our flora and fauna
arrived from other land masses 25 MYA.
• NZ is currently rising out of the sea along the
Alpine Fault as two tectonic plates collide

7. 10 MYA
The Pacific Plate began to sink into the
Australian Plate. Pressure caused cracks
to form…and eventually the Alpine Fault.
NZ spilt in two and now lies across two
plates and collide in sections creating new
land, volcanic eruptions and uplift.

8. 2.6 MYA
• The Earth was exposed to periods of repeated cooling –
ice ages
• During glacial periods temperatures dropped as much as
4.5’C, heavy snow fell on NZ mountains. The snow
hardened into ice and glaciers moved downhill into
lower regions. Glaciers once covered the valleys from
Fiordland to west Nelson
• Huge ice caps formed in the northern hemisphere
locking up water and the sea level dropped by 100
metres exposing more coastal land in NZ. When the ice
caps melted the sea level then rose again

9. In the Last 1.8 MY
• Sothern Alps have risen
• Volcanic eruptions buried large areas of the
North Island
• Huge glaciers spread out from the mountains
• The past 10 000 years has seen a fairly stable
climate, temperatures have been rising for the
past 7,000 years as a result so have sea levels.

10. Flora and Fauna
• Up until several million years ago there were no terrestrial mammals except bats and
seas, most of the fauna was made up of insects and birds, such as unusual frogs and the
tuatara
• The flora was mainly gondwanan plants such as giant kauri forests, podocarps and
southern beech trees.
• There is a high rate of interspecific and intraspecific hybridisation in NZ plants and
animals
• Following the separation from Gondwana species have came to NZ via the sea or
airborne mostly from Australia. They arrived so long ago they are now almost
unrecognisable as being decedents of Australian species.
• Some species have also travelled to NZ from New Caledonia

11. NZ Flora and Fauna
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tw7kx5dHii8
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KVSjtmtvF8M
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KVSjtmtvF8M&ytsession=pPvPZ-Sgl3oE8O8TNu5EuuoOYFlywimtWdew-
4WICdIN3_kQI7og_2aaIPgrQ6ei1XCTbx6ze3mhdGT5VaOfP5TVflCxGaNf7PUeE
TRZavaqFjMMaIv-FRgSqitxzZ0ufaA28YSC96ZdhTCvY9-
XB4SijxtjuEYpxA2QNsGu4ewYiet0doaQ9feWuStr7oNdFM69v5X9hZRnEQbeVeli
edSvKvXRp5R0BziKqqE3I05aNUw-pPho57w_
HLx86fUBjMq7XTMI3fYiSUolZm3CQLP7H3lNgYGnY4CQT4SVMbo
GfaVUE-B_1LyW_1ybG6LKgQzIOj0eeog

12. Age of Man
• NZ was one of the last land masses to be colonised by humans
around 1250AD by Maori and then 1790 by Europeans.
• Humans burnt forests, converted land to agriculture and removed
2/3 of the native forest, resulting in major ecological changes and
erosion,
• Hunting and introduction of pests resulted in the extinction of
many native species

13. Diversity
• Diversity – range of different species
• NZ has had two main forest types for the past 190million years –
podocarps (kauri) and the southern beech.
• The rest of NZ was grassland and tussock in subalpine and low shrub
land.
• Many of NZ native birds descend from Gondwanan stock, in the absence
of mammals birds have evolved to fill niches usually filled by mammals eg
Moa
• Others show clear links to Australian birds eg NZ Pigeon, Falcon and
parrots

15. References
• http://www.teara.govt.nz/en/geology-overview/page-11
• http://www.gns.cri.nz/Home/Learning/Science-Topics/NZ-Geology/NZ-s-Geological-History
• http://www.visitzealandia.com/what-is-zealandia/our-history/80-million-years-ago/
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biodiversity_of_New_Zealand
• http://www.teara.govt.nz/en/1966/geology-new-zealands-geological-history
• http://www.teara.govt.nz/en/glaciers-and-glaciation/page-3
• http://www.gns.cri.nz/Home/Learning/Science-Topics/NZ-Geology/NZ-s-Geological-History
• http://www.teara.govt.nz/en/glaciers-and-glaciation/page-3
• http://www.teara.govt.nz/en/geology-overview/page-6
• http://www.visitzealandia.com/what-is-zealandia/our-history/80-million-years-ago/
• http://www.gns.cri.nz/Home/Learning/Science-Topics/Ocean-Floor/History-of-Zealandia
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biodiversity_of_New_Zealand