BURIED FOREST

Evening Post, Volume CXIX, Issue 79, 3 April 1935, Page 16

BURIED FOREST

REVELATION BY FLOODS

COAL AND QUARTZ EXPOSED

NINETY-MILE BEACH CHANCES

Great interest in the buried forest and coal seam, which have been revealed at the Ninety-Mile Beach in the river a few miles south of Hukutere and the marked speed track, is still being shown, states the Kaitaia correspondent of the "New Zealand Herald." On Sunday a large number of cars made the journey.up the beach, and the passengers walked up the river to view the unusual sight.

During, the past week the flow of water has lessened considerably and the bed is starting to silt up. A survey of the surrounding country shows a low ridge of sandhills about two miles from the beach and at the back of these are lagoons. Other sandhills separate these lagoons from a fertile strip of land on the eastern side of the peninsula, through which the main road north leads. These lagoons have no outlet except by seepage through the sand, and it is this seepage which makes the beach so wet after rains and feeds the creeks running down to the water. Tliese lagoons are found all the way up the west coast.

The plain at the back of the river which laid bare the forest is studded, with wet patches, but there is no surface water. The fall of rain on the plains when the wash-out occurred must have been 'very heavy and the water seems to have, gathered at the low, narrow outlet of the river where it has cut numerous canyons, all leading into the main river. One mile back from the beach there is no surface water, but the strong flow of the river is coming under : the sand from the •lagoon and it is noticeable that this is above the.seam of lignite coal and that none'appears to be coming' into the I river from beneath the seam, r

SPLINTERED TOPS OF TREES.

The trees showing ( in :the ,river : bed are all, standing about the same height I and others are partly- buried in/the hard sandstone bank. The,; latter :are about 6ft in; height. -Further .up'1 the river,-where -the< level of ■■'the bed- is higher/ ihe length of,the trees showing-j is less,-but the level is'about the same. All these trees have splintered tops. Below the coal seam there are no trees visible..'1. ','■'■■■' ■' /■ ■' '.■-':'..'■ ''i :'.■■■ The section of the coal; seam over which '■■ the :water is flowing is about sft deep, but in the branch ;, canyon, the seam is abbutlOft;through. In this | section a narrow seam of bitumen coal appears. /A distinct' smell of sulphur! is noticeable here and the water is-J slightly discoloured.

On'the banks of'the river'near: the beach are large blocks of coal, weighing several hundreds of pounds:: Sortie are about 50ft higher than the present flow of'water, showing that there must have been 'a, great volume Vof water when the flood was 'at its height: The area .of sand and coal blocks on the beach at the mouth of" the river vis gradually" being levelled, by ,the action of the'sea, but it is still" readily discernible j for some miles along the beach. , ■ , i ■ , ,

Seams of lignite coal have been found in other places in the north during recent years, the furthest north being at Parenga. On the Ninety-Mile Beach seams have been found at Hukutere, Waihi, and Ahipara, at the southern end of the beach. Another was found on the east coast at Cooper's Beach. PREVIOUS USE OF COAL. In no locality have serious efforts been made to work the seams, although ■ it has been used for household purposes and has been tried in steam boilers. Many years ago a flaxmill was operating at Hukutere, near the; present wash-out, and coal from this region was tried in boilers, but it did not prove very satisfactory. Samples of the coal have been tested and show a fairly high percentage of water. As lower grade coal is being used in other^ parts of the world, the Kaitaia Dairy Company is obtaining full information, and it is possible that the field may be. fully explored. The seam is dipping to the east and away from -the beach. Speaking of the forest that has been uncovered, Mr. J. Reid, who has been farming at Hukutere for nearly half a century and knows the country bordering the beach better than, anyone else in the locality, said this was not the first time on the beach that sections of the forest had been uncovered after heavy rain. In the locality of the present wash-out, stumps of trees had shown before, and near the bluff of the northern end of the beach a large area- was uncovered about' 30 years ago. A visit to this area shows : stumps still standing about three-quarters of a mile from the beach. There is also a large number of fallen trunks, including a number of totara trees. Some years ago some of the trees were cut up by the Maoris at the Te Kao settlement for fencing posts. Rock and quartz are showing here as well as blue clay, which is rarely seen near the beach. In some places the sandstone has the formation of a lava flow. As in the other rivers the quicksand is dangerous.

PROOF OF MAORI LEGEND.

Mr. Reid said about 30 years ago the action of the sea washed out the. sand

bar between the mainland and the rock at the bluff and about 15ft under the present sand level the remains of a forest were uncovered. The bluff was surrounded by water, and was not, as at present, an island only at high tide. The sand re-covered these trees, but this wash-out proved a Maori legend that the bluff was once joined to the mainland and that the northern end of the Ninety-Mile Beach was a separate beach reached by a track over the bluff.

Nearly half a century ago there were some dumps of native bush growing within a mile of the beach, but all of [these have been covered with drifting sand, except a small area of pohutukawas near the bluff. The Maoris state that the northern part of the island was covered by forests, but these were burned and the sand was allowed to sweep in. As kauri gum has been dug close to the beach and areas of burnt clay have been found this statement is evidently correct. ~_,., The last storm was responsible for washing out the track from the beach to the Automobile Association garage at Hukutere and when rain falls the water penetrates the building. The beach from Hukutere is still wet, although the surface is in fairly good order. Although the beach is in fair order there are a number of small creeks running into the sea which are not usually showing at this season, but the wet summer has been responsible for maintaining their flow.