Ward Beach Boulders

On November 4th, 2016, a

7.8 magnitude earthquake ripped across multiple fault lines on

New Zealand

’s South Island. This earthquake caused immense devastation and irreversibly changed the landscape in many areas.

One such area of dramatic landscape alteration was Ward Beach, about 83 miles (135 kilometers) northeast of the epicenter.

Here, the land rose by over six feet (two meters). This caused the seafloor to uplift, exposing an otherworldly landscape. The area that is now exposed includes the K-T Boundary or the Cretaceous-Palaeogene Boundary. The K-T Boundary represents the extinction event that ended the reign of dinosaurs. This boundary can be seen in the exposed rocks along the north end of the beach.

Concretions, large spherical rocks made of dolomite, can also be seen at Ward Beach. This landscape had been shaped by the action of the tides and waves for countless years, and now, exposed to the air, rain, and wind, begins another stage in its transformation.