GNS Science
Encyclopedia
GNS Science is a New Zealand
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
Crown Research Institute
Crown Research Institutes
In New Zealand, Crown Research Institutes are corporatised Crown entities charged with conducting scientific research.Crown Research Institutes date from 1992, with most formed out of the parts of the former Department of Scientific and Industrial Research and of elements of various government...
. It focuses on geology
Geology
Geology is the science comprising the study of solid Earth, the rocks of which it is composed, and the processes by which it evolves. Geology gives insight into the history of the Earth, as it provides the primary evidence for plate tectonics, the evolutionary history of life, and past climates...
, geophysics
Geophysics
Geophysics is the physics of the Earth and its environment in space; also the study of the Earth using quantitative physical methods. The term geophysics sometimes refers only to the geological applications: Earth's shape; its gravitational and magnetic fields; its internal structure and...
(including seismology
Seismology
Seismology is the scientific study of earthquakes and the propagation of elastic waves through the Earth or through other planet-like bodies. The field also includes studies of earthquake effects, such as tsunamis as well as diverse seismic sources such as volcanic, tectonic, oceanic,...
and volcanology
Volcanology
Volcanology is the study of volcanoes, lava, magma, and related geological, geophysical and geochemical phenomena. The term volcanology is derived from the Latin word vulcan. Vulcan was the ancient Roman god of fire....
), and nuclear science
Atomic nucleus
The nucleus is the very dense region consisting of protons and neutrons at the center of an atom. It was discovered in 1911, as a result of Ernest Rutherford's interpretation of the famous 1909 Rutherford experiment performed by Hans Geiger and Ernest Marsden, under the direction of Rutherford. The...
(particularly isotope science
Isotope
Isotopes are variants of atoms of a particular chemical element, which have differing numbers of neutrons. Atoms of a particular element by definition must contain the same number of protons but may have a distinct number of neutrons which differs from atom to atom, without changing the designation...
and carbon dating
Radiocarbon dating
Radiocarbon dating is a radiometric dating method that uses the naturally occurring radioisotope carbon-14 to estimate the age of carbon-bearing materials up to about 58,000 to 62,000 years. Raw, i.e. uncalibrated, radiocarbon ages are usually reported in radiocarbon years "Before Present" ,...
).
GNS Science was known as the Institute of Geological and Nuclear Sciences from 1992 to 2005. Originally part of the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research
Department of Scientific and Industrial Research
Several countries have organizations called the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research, abbreviated DSIR.-United Kingdom:...
(DSIR), it was established as an independent organisation when the Crown Research Institutes were created in 1992. As part of that process, GNS Science was semi-commercialised, and now operates as a government-owned company rather than as a government department. This change led to greater autonomy, accompanied by greater emphasis on financial viability. This is essential in the corporate environment, especially for the purchase and maintenance of research equipment and infrastructure, because the New Zealand public science funding system doesn't normally provide grants for these purposes.
As well as undertaking basic research, and operating the national geological hazards monitoring network, GNS Science is employed, both in New Zealand and overseas, by various private groups (notably energy companies), as well as central and local government agencies, to provide scientific advice and information.
GNS Science is based in Avalon
Avalon, New Zealand
Avalon, a suburb of Lower Hutt in New Zealand, formed as a private residential development in the 1970s on land formerly occupied by market-gardens on the left bank of the Hutt River...
, Lower Hutt
Lower Hutt
Lower Hutt is a city in the Wellington region of New Zealand. Its council has adopted the name Hutt City Council, but neither the New Zealand Geographic Board nor the Local Government Act recognise the name Hutt City. This alternative name can lead to confusion, as there are two cities in the...
with facilities in Dunedin
Dunedin
Dunedin is the second-largest city in the South Island of New Zealand, and the principal city of the Otago Region. It is considered to be one of the four main urban centres of New Zealand for historic, cultural, and geographic reasons. Dunedin was the largest city by territorial land area until...
and Wairakei
Wairakei
Wairakei is the name of a power station, small settlement and a geothermal area a few kilometres north of Taupo, in the centre of the North Island of New Zealand, on the Waikato River.- Geothermal field :...
.