https://watersafety.org.nz/crossing%20rivers%20-%20fact%20sheet
![](https://field-basedstem.kiwi/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/Screen-Shot-2022-03-11-at-5.32.37-PM-1024x652.png)
Kupe’s sail
Previously, we looked at Kupe’s Sail which is tilted at a steep angle – this sedimentary rock would have originally been horizontal.
![](https://field-basedstem.kiwi/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/Screen-Shot-2022-03-10-at-8.39.31-PM.png)
Tora coast
There are many more examples of tilted and deformed rocks on the Tora Coast.
![](https://field-basedstem.kiwi/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/Screen-Shot-2022-03-11-at-5.32.58-PM.png)
Incredible forces
The force required to uplift and tilt huge rock layers such as those observed at Kupe’s Sail and on the Tora Coast must have been HUGE.
![](https://field-basedstem.kiwi/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/Screen-Shot-2022-03-11-at-5.32.50-PM.png)
![](https://field-basedstem.kiwi/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/Screen-Shot-2022-03-11-at-5.33.06-PM-1024x478.png)
Clues to how these rocks are uplifted can be seen at many places on the Tora Coastline ….
Faults
Geoscientists believe that sedimentary rock is uplifted from the seafloor by a series of earthquakes that produce structures known as faults – fractures in the rock resulting from one part of the sedimentary layer uplifting more than an adjacent part.
![](https://field-basedstem.kiwi/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/Screen-Shot-2022-03-11-at-5.33.21-PM.png)
![](https://field-basedstem.kiwi/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/Screen-Shot-2022-03-11-at-5.33.28-PM.png)
Plate tectonics
Huge tectonic plates that cover the earth move against and under each other with one plate often pushing another upwards in a series of uplifts – each resulting in earthquakes.
![](https://field-basedstem.kiwi/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/Screen-Shot-2022-03-11-at-5.33.35-PM.png)
These forces don’t just fracture and tilt the rock layers, sometimes they fold the layers – like a crumpled rug – into a series of synclines and anticlines …
Fantastic example of a folded anticline – Tora Coast
![](https://field-basedstem.kiwi/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/Screen-Shot-2022-03-11-at-5.33.44-PM.png)
![](https://field-basedstem.kiwi/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/Screen-Shot-2022-03-11-at-5.33.53-PM.png)
Here, at Tora beach, (see Geotrip link for directions) the rocks can be seen to be folded into an anticline. On the left-hand side of the photo the layers tilt seaward (East) and on the right-hand side they tilt landward (West)
Find out more at Geotrips
Tora Anticline: https://www.geotrips.org.nz/trip.html?id=571
Buckled beds at Te Kaukau Point: https://www.geotrips.org.nz/trip.html?id=482