Sunset at Aoraki/Mount Cook, New Zealand
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Sunset at Aoraki/Mount Cook, New Zealand

by Jana Eichel, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, Karlsruhe, Germany

This photo of New Zealand’s highest mountain, glowing in the evening light, was taken during fieldwork at the Mueller rockslide. Not only were we investigating a landslide, but Mount Cook has also been shaped by one. In December 1991, the eastern summit of Mount Cook collapsed and a large rock avalanche descended downwards, creating a magnitude 3.9 earthquake and leaving Mount Cook 10 m shorter than before.