Sediments

Specialised monitoring equipment has been installed in Bay of Plenty estuaries to understand whether our coastal wetlands can survive the threat of inevitable sea-level rise.

Greater Wellington Regional Council regularly assess sediment quality and seafloor community health in the subtidal areas of Te Awarua-o-Porirua (Porirua Harbour) and Te Whanganui-a-Tara (Wellington Harbour).

There is increasing global concern about the presence of plastic pollution in our oceans.

Estuaries provide a crucial link between our rivers and our seas. Sam Fraser-Baxter heads out with a NIWA research team keeping a close eye on these vulnerable transition zones.

A large, orange Scandinavian robot gives NIWA’s marine geologists an in-depth look at changes to the seafloor off Kaikōura.

Where there’s mud, there’s scientists. NIWA divers recently got down and dirty while completing a harbour-wide dive survey in the Wellington area.

A web application tool to explore monitoring data and model predictions related to stream and estuary eutrophication

A six-metre long orange underwater robot is flying through the Kaikōura Canyon for the next month collecting information on how the canyon has changed since the 2016 earthquake.

Fine sediment is the most pervasive and significant contaminant in New Zealand’s rivers, estuaries, and coastal areas.

Braided rivers are an arena where woody weeds and floods are in constant competition with each other.
Braided rivers naturally flood frequently, repeatedly mobilising their bed sediments and shifting their multiple channels.

A combination of field surveys and on-site observations are being used along with laboratory-based experiments to determine the effects of seabed disturbance on benthic life.