Plateau Hut and Glacier Dome

The rocks that make up these mountains are part of the Torlesse Supergroup. They consist of 'greywacke' which originated as sands and muds on the ocean floor off the coast of Gondwanaland between 300 and 100 million years ago. They have been subjected to burial to depths of several kilometres, partial metamorphism, accretion onto the side of Gonwanaland by plate collision followed by later uplift and erosion as the Alpine Fault developed along the modern plate boundary. Uplift rates of the central southern alps are relatively fast, up to roughly 1cm per year. The orientation of the Southern Alps at right angles to the prevailing westerly winds that arrive directly off the Tasman Sea creates extreme weather conditions and dynamic erosion processes. Rock and Ice avalanches are common, and, on occasion, truly enormous. The relentless grinding of glaciers carves deep valleys that undercut and destabilise mountain slopes. Climate warming has been having a big impact on ice volumes of the glaciers, and snowfields over recent decades, uncovering loose moraine walls such as on the sides of the Tasman Glacier.

Glacier Dome is a half hour climb from Plateau Hut (requiring crampons, ice axe and mountaineering skills). It provides a 360 degree view of the Grand Plateau, high surrounding peaks of the Main Divide, Tasman Glacier and mountains of the Liebig Range. Look for steeply bedded and folded bedrock, glaciers, active ice cliffs, moraine walls and the terminal lake of the Tasman Glacier in the distance. On a warm day it is highly likely that you will witness ice avalanches off the east faces of Aoraki and Mount Tasman.