BURIED FOREST.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXII, Issue 19141, 6 October 1925, Page 7

BURIED FOREST.

Sir,—l am interested in the, discovery made at Arapuni of a buried forest as reported in your issue of September 30. There are other traces of forest growth orach below the present surface of the Waikato district. I remember about 35 years ago an extra heavy rainfall causing an extensive wash-out* at Tautaoroa, near Cambridge. This has since become a gully of considerable dimension. When the wash-out occurred I visited it with a friend, and found the remains of large trees in their natural position, just as described at Arapuni. They were trees similar to those in our hush to-day, and so little had they changed that my friend was able to name some of them". They were not at all fossilised though some of them were carbonised, and had the appearance of quite recent growth. They were, however, fragile and decayed and soon disappeared on exposure to the atmosphere. Some years later I visited the gully again, arid found that all traces of the trees had disappeared. Fortunately, on the first occasion I had made a sketch for lecture purposes, which I still possess and value somewhat as a record of the geological history of the Waikato. It would be interesting if any other of your readers have any information on this interesting subject. H. R. Hyatt.