Nick Mortimer Explained

Nick Mortimer
Birth Place:	England
Nationality:	New Zealand
Fields:	Geology
Workplaces:	Institute of Geological & Nuclear Sciences Limited (GNS), New Zealand

Nick Mortimer is a New Zealand geologist, who has made a name for himself with his work on Zealandia.

Nick Mortimer was born in England and lives now in Dunedin, New Zealand.^[1] He studied geology and graduated with a Bachelor of Science with distinction in 1980. He then completed a PhD in geology and received his doctorate four years later.^[2]

Mortimer published his first papers in 1986/1987 while working at the Department of Geological Sciences at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, Canada. He later has been working as a petrologist at the Dunedin Research Centre of the Institute of Geological and Nuclear Sciences (GNS Science) since 1994,^[3] where he is one of the "Principal Scientists".^[4] During his career, he has conducted research in Australia, Antarctica, Canada, the United States, the Pacific and many areas of New Zealand.

Mortimer became known worldwide as the lead author of the article "Zealandia: Earth's Hidden Continent", which he published 2017 together with ten other scientists in the March issue of GSA Today, a scientific journal of the Geological Society of America^[5] and with which he received a broad response in the media worldwide.

Memebership and editor

Mortimer is a member of the:

• Geological Society of New Zealand
• New Zealand Geophysical Society
• New Zealand Skeptics
• American Geophysical Union

and senior editor of the scientific magazine NZ Journal of Geology & Geophysics.

Selected publications

Books:

• Book: Nick Mortimer . A Guide to the geology of the Riverton, Aparima district . Institute of Geological and Nuclear Sciences . Lower Hutt . 2009 . en.
• Book: Nick Mortimer, Hamish Campbell, Margaret Low . A Photographic Guide to Rocks & Minerals of New Zealand . Institute of Geological and Nuclear Sciences . Lower Hutt . 2011 . en . 978-1869662837.
• Book: Nick Mortimer, Hamish Campbell . Zealandia - Our Continent Revealed . Penguin Books . London . 2014 . en . 978-0-143-57156-8.

Own publications in scientific journals:

• Nick Mortimer . Late Triassic, arc-related, potassic igneous rocks in the North American Cordillera . Geology . 14 . 1986 . 12 . 1035–1038 . en . 2017-03-07 . 10.1130/0091-7613(1986)14<1035:LTAPIR>2.0.CO;2 . 1986Geo....14.1035M .
• Nick Mortimer . The Nicola Group: Late Triassic and Early Jurassic subduction-related volcanism in British Columbia . Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences . 24 . December 1987 . 12 . 2521–2536 . en . 10.1139/e87-236. 1987CaJES..24.2521M .
• Nick Mortimer . Jurassic tectonic history of the Otago schist, New Zealand . Tectonics . 12 . 1993 . 1 . 237–244 . en . 10.1029/92TC01563. 1993Tecto..12..237M .
• Nick Mortimer . Origin of the Torlesse terrane and coeval rocks, North Island, New Zealand . International Geology Review . 36 . 1994 . 10 . 891–910 . en . 10.1080/00206819409465494. 1994IGRv...36..891M .
• Nick Mortimer . Metamorphic discontinuities in orogenic belts: example of the garnet– biotite–albite zone in the Otago Schist, New Zealand . International Journal of Earth Sciences . 89 . September 2000 . 2 . 295–306 . en . 10.1007/s005310000086. 2000IJEaS..89..295M .
• Nick Mortimer . A provisional structural thickness map of the Otago schist, New Zealand . American Journal of Science . 303 . 2003 . 7 . 603–621 . en . 10.2475/ajs.303.7.603. 2003AmJS..303..603M .
• Nick Mortimer . New Zealand's geological foundations . Gondwana Research . 7 . January 2004 . 1 . 261–272 . 10.1016/S1342-937X(05)70324-5 . 2004GondR...7..261M . en.

Publications as lead author in scientific journals:

• Nick Mortimer, B. P. Roser . Geochemical evidence for the position of the Caples–Torlesse boundary in the Otago Schist, New Zealand . Journal of the Geological Society . 149 . London . December 1992 . 6 . 967–977 . en . 10.1144/gsjgs.149.6.0967. 1992JGSoc.149..967M .
• Nick Mortimer, Dave Parkinson . Hikurangi Plateau: a Cretaceous large igneous province in the southwest Pacific Ocean . Journal of Geophysical Research: Solid Earth . 101 . January 1996 . B1 . 687–696 . en . 10.1029/95JB03037. 1996JGR...101..687M .
• Nick Mortimer, A. J. Tulloch, T. R. Ireland . Basement geology of Taranaki and Wanganui Basins, New Zealand . New Zealand Journal of Geology and Geophysics . 40 . 1997 . 2 . 223–236 . en . 10.1080/00288306.1997.9514754. 1997NZJGG..40..223M .
• Nick Mortimer, R. H. Herzer, P. B. Gans, D. L. Parkinson, D. Seward . Basement geology from Three Kings Ridge to West Norfolk Ridge, southwest Pacific Ocean: evidence from petrology, geochemistry and isotopic dating of dredge samples . Marine Geology . 148 . July 1998 . 3–4 . 135–162 . en . 10.1016/S0025-3227(98)00007-3. 1998MGeol.148..135M .
• Nick Mortimer, A. J. Tulloch, R. N. Spark, N. W. Walker, E. Ladley, A. H. Allibone, David L. Kimbrough . Overview of the Median Batholith, New Zealand: a new interpretation of the geology of the Median Tectonic Zone and adjacent rocks . Journal of African Earth Sciences . 29 . July 1999 . 1 . 257–268 . en . 10.1016/S0899-5362(99)00095-0. 1999JAfES..29..257M .
• Nick Mortimer, Phil Gans, Andy Calvert, Nick Walker . Geology and thermochronometry of the east edge of the Median Batholith (Median Tectonic Zone): a new perspective on Permian to Cretaceous crustal growth of New Zealand . Island Arc . 8 . September 1999 . 3 . 404–425 . en . 10.1046/j.1440-1738.1999.00249.x. 1999IsArc...8..404M .
• Nick Mortimer, R. H. Herzer, N. W. Walker, A. T. Calvert, D. Seward, G. C. H. Chaproniere . Cavalli Seamount, Northland Plateau, SW Pacific Ocean: a Miocene metamorphic core complex? . Journal of the Geological Society . 160 . 2003 . 6 . 971–983 . en . 10.1144/0016-764902-157. 2003JGSoc.160..971M .
• Nick Mortimer, Kaj Hoernle, F. Hauff, J. M. Palin, W. J. Dunlap, R. Werner, Kevin Faure . New constraints on the age and evolution of the Wishbone Ridge, southwest Pacific Cretaceous microplates, and Zealandia-West Antarctica breakup . Geology . 34 . March 2006 . 3 . 185–189 . en . 10.1130/G22168.1. 2006Geo....34..185M .
• Nick Mortimer, R. H. Herzer, P. B. Gans, C. Laporte-Magoni, A. T. Calvert, D. Bosch . Oligocene-Miocene tectonic evolution of the South Fiji Basin and Northland Plateau, SW Pacific Ocean: evidence from petrology and dating of dredged rocks . Marine Geology . 237 . February 2007 . 1–2 . 1–24 . 10.1016/j.margeo.2006.10.033 . 2007MGeol.237....1M . en.
• Nick Mortimer, W. J. Dunlap, J. Michael Palin, R. H. Herzer, F. Hauff, M. Clark . Ultra-fast early Miocene exhumation of Cavalli Seamount, Northland Plateau, Southwest Pacific Ocean . New Zealand Journal of Geology and Geophysics . 51 . March 2008 . 1 . 29–42 . en . 10.1080/00288300809509848. 2008NZJGG..51...29M .
• Nick Mortimer, Kohn Barry, D. Seward, T. Spell, A. Tulloch . Reconnaissance Thermochronology of Southern Zealandia . Journal of the Geological Society . 173 . November 2015 . 2 . 370– . en . 10.1144/jgs2015-021.
• Nick Mortimer, Hamish J. Campbell, Andy J. Tulloch, Peter R. King, Vaughan M. Stagpoole, Ray A. Wood, Mark S. Rattenbury, Rupert Sutherland, Chris J. Adams, Julien Collot, Maria Seton . Zealandia: Earth's Hidden Continent . GSA Today . 2017 . 27 . 3 . 27–35 . en . 2017-03-07 . 10.1130/GSATG321A.1.

Publications as co-author in scientific journals:

• T. A. Little, Nick Mortimer, M. McWilliams . An episodic Cretaceous cooling model for the Otago-Marlborough Schist, New Zealand, based on 40Ar/39Ar white mica ages . New Zealand Journal of Geology and Geophysics . 42 . 1999 . 3 . 305–325 . en . 10.1080/00288306.1999.9514848. 1999NZJGG..42..305L .
• I. M. Turnbull, Nick Mortimer, D. Craw . Textural zones in the Haast Schist—a reappraisal . New Zealand Journal of Geology and Geophysics . 44 . 2001 . 1 . 171–183 . en . 10.1080/00288306.2001.9514933. 2001NZJGG..44..171T .
• Daphne E. Lee, William G. Lee, Nick Mortimer . Where and why have all the flowers gone? Depletion and turnover in the New Zealand Cenozoic angiosperm flora in relation to palaeogeography and climate . Australian Journal of Botany . 49 . Clayton . 2001 . 3 . 341–356 . en . 10.1071/BT00031.
• A. J. Tulloch, J. Ramezani, Nick Mortimer, J. Mortensen, P. van den Bogaard, R. Maas . Cretaceous felsic volcanism in New Zealand and Lord Howe Rise (Zealandia) as a precursor to final Gondwana break-up . Special Publications . 321 . London . October 2009 . 1 . 89–118 . en . 10.1144/SP321.5. 2009GSLSP.321...89T .

External links

• Web site: 2017-03-07 . en . Institute of Geological and Nuclear Sciences . Nick Mortimer .

Notes and References

1. Web site: John Gibb . Zealandia paper release goes viral . Otago Daily Times . 2017-03-04 . 2017-03-07 . en.
2. Web site: Nick Mortimer . Institute of Geological and Nuclear Sciences . 2017-03-07 . en.
3. Web site: Contact Us . Institute of Geological and Nuclear Sciences . 2017-03-07 . en.
4. Web site: Principal Scientists . Institute of Geological and Nuclear Sciences . 2017-03-07 . en.
5. Nick Mortimer and 10 co-authors . Zealandia: Earth's Hidden Continent . GSA Today . 2017 . 27 . 3 . 27–35 . 10.1130/GSATG321A.1 . en.