BURIED KAURI FOREST

Auckland Star, Volume LII, Issue 61, 12 March 1921, Page 17

BURIED KAURI FOREST

HUGE TRUNKS UNEARTHED. TIMBER MINING IN PAPA-EXTRA VALLEY. Many centuries a_o a kauri forest containing trees of fabulous sire existed some twenty miles from Auckland in the neighbourhood of Papakura, Mantrrewa. Ardmore. and Aliriston. In certain lowi.ving parts of this Papakura Valley many feet below the surface, and buried ::eneath the accumulations of centuries. 'Ie the vast trunks and mighty limbs of this old-time kauri forest. Where the -Uriel trees now lie. the settlers found swaiaos with a 'aeavv growth of rimu and bu. all these have been j clean*-, and a- the land is drained and ! dnui the extensive nature of the ' dei ••*•'.! s ut* timber beneath the surface -s | realise!. J WHAT WAs THE C.__"-"-E. i /-.!! r.'.;'.r.'.ier cf theories are advanced Ito ?x;:!.i'.i what it was that ages ag> , !ev.r.l_- tiiesp huge trees to tiie ground. Some p.- pic contend that it mnst have I iu"-n a i—L-lone of tcrrkic power whieii , tore these immense trees from the ; _ro-.ni.l a„] hurled them ri-ht and left. i i!ut s, mo of tii - trunks are from twelve t ■> 'ifteen feet in diameter, and one .an hardly imag'ne a storm of sufficient ' strength to tiiem. Then again thee | lie in all directions, and not*, as has i.een sometimes stated with their butts ali one «.:y. Others contend thai a tire originating from some adjacent volcano was the cau-e. The soil in the vic'nity is com- . pose i of many feet of partially rotted vegetable matter, light and fibrous, ansl i after prolonged dry weather it. will smoulder for mont'is, burning away to a i depth of several feet, and leaving a j thick layer of while ash. This they conI tend was the method, by which these great kauris fell, after being gradually ' underm'ned hv the action of slowly [smouldering lire? in the mass of Totting ■ vegetation in which they were rooted. In some parts cf the district draining operations show a layer of what a.ppears to be white a"h a foot or moTe in thict- ■ ness at a depth of several feet. The __p- ' porters of tits explanation point to this . ash in confirmation of their theory that ] fires, burning deep into the ground, were 1 experienced in those far-off years w—. en jso many phenomena, no.v so difficult o_ expianation. must have occurred to change the -face of the country.

, A Ht'CE DISTrRBAXOE. I A third set advance still another : theory. They point out that kauri do ! not tow on swampy ground, that where these huge trunks are found is bow lowlving and saturated with water. and therefore at one time it must have been high or undulating country in order that the karri would thrive on it. They argue that some disturbance on a _._g_ j sva'e mist have occurred, such as a j contraction and sudden s'nking of the ! earth's crust, which completely altered the face of the d'strict and brought t_e forest crashing down on all sides. Here the great trees lav until the slowly growing mass of rotting vegetation had • placed anything from five to _fty feet of ground above them, and in time a j new forest took root and grew. Kauri 'gum 'lias been met with a*t a I depth of about 150 feet while making a . bore for a well in the district, and near : Alfriston, while another bore was being j put in. the drill passed through a eevenI foot kauri lag at a depth of s'h feet. The trees are often found in two or three layers, the trunks piled one on -Op lof the other, and as the soii is ..-.eared | away it is notice- that often the bark iis intact, and even the leaves, cones, and lichen are found. though they crumble away on hemg handled. The 'Whole district has ■ ~ one ol the 'richest gunric'.l- in the Dominion, and thousand of pound,' worth of gum have - been obtained from it. lirst -V « JC ' s_rfaee.di._er and latterly by tie indu*- ■ T -, _ ~ i ... , ~ -\ sterna: v Auftr an. ' The '■■".-•" cle'p. «itR of buried timber •• • " , x .,- , ted to a limited extent, . j,.'', ''"'.'„']erta- ; n.' is capable of great but tie un.ierta-.n-- '■~,[ . .. . r extension before tne n.d.i ••. a.w > this remarkabie d"str:('t * Ild.i re_..-.-.. ilxiic photographs pubM-hed on rhN page ■ show some imni'-i'-' '"- ,''"'■ ;! recovered in the vicil!;ty •■: Papa-ura.