Abstract
This chapter introduces the story of Pureora Forest Park (PFP), in the central North Island, New Zealand, by describing the extremely violent Taupo eruption of c. AD 232 and its consequences for the surrounding forests and mountains. It gives a broad-scale local geological history, detailing the origins of some important local sedimentary rocks and landforms with a bearing on the story, including limestone caverns and coal deposits. It describes the location of the future PFP on the western edge of the Taupo Volcanic Zone, and how the history of volcanic activity, together with erosion, have determined much of the character of its landscape, the radial drainage pattern and deep entrenchment of its rivers, the distribution of its vegetation, and its long isolation from human access and permanent settlement.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
References
Anderson, K. (2000). Servicing caterpillar. Taumarunui: CAS Publications.
Brake, T., & Cooke, R. (1986). Bush track to highway. Taumarunui: C & S Publications.
Briggs, R. M., Gifford, M. G., Moyle, A. R., Taylor, S. R., Normaff , M. D., Houghton, B. F., & Wilson, C. J. N. (1993). Geochemical zoning and eruptive mixing in ignimbrites from Mangakino volcano, Taupo Volcanic Zone, New Zealand. Journal of Volcanology and Geothermal Research, 56, 175–203.
Cussen, L. (1888). Notes on the physiography and geology of the King Country. Transactions of the New Zealand Institute, 20, 316–332.
Edbrooke, S. W. (2005). Geology of the Waikato area: Geological map 4, Scale 1:250,000. Lower Hutt: Institute of Geological and Nuclear Sciences.
Francis, P. (1993). Volcanoes: A planetary perspective. Oxford: Clarendon Press.
Froggatt, P. C., Wilson, C. J. N., & Walker, G. P. L. (1981). Orientation of logs in the Taupo Ignimbrite as an indicator of flow direction and vent position. Geology, 9, 109–111.
Froude, D. O., & Cole, J. W. (1985). Petrography, mineralogy and chemistry of Titiraupenga volcano, North Island, New Zealand. New Zealand Journal of Geology and Geophysics, 28, 487–496.
Graham, I. J., Cole, J. W., Briggs, R. M., Gamble, J. A., & Smith, I. E. M. (1995). Petrology and petrogenesis of volcanic rocks from the Taupo Volcanic Zone: A review. Journal of Volcanology and Geothermal Research, 68, 59–87.
Hessell, J. W. (1986). The climate of Pureora Forest. In B. Veale & J. G. Innes (Ed.), Ecological research in the central North Island Volcanic Plateau region (p. 27). Rotorua: Forest Research Institute.
von Hochstetter, F. (1867). New Zealand, its physical geography, geology and natural history. Stuttgart: J. G. Cotta.
Hogg, A. G., Lowe, D. J., Palmer, J., Boswijk, G., & Ramsey, C. B. (2012). Revised calendar date for the Taupo eruption derived by 14C wiggle-matching using a New Zealand kauri 14C calibration data set. The Holocene, 22, 439–449.
Houghton, B. F., & Wilson, C. J. N. (1986). Explosive rhyolitic volcanism: The case studies of Mayor Island and Taupo volcanoes. New Zealand Geological Survey Record, 12, 33–100.
Houghton, B. F., Carey, R. J., & Rosenberg, M. D. (2015). The Taupo eruption: “Ill wind” blows the ultraplinian type event down to Plinian. Geology, 42, 459–461.
Hudspith, V. A., Scott, A. C., Wilson, C. J. N., & Collinson, M. E. (2010). Charring of woods by volcanic processes: An example from the Taupo ignimbrite, New Zealand. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology, 291, 40–51.
King, P. (2015). From source to sink. In I. J. Graham (Ed.), A continent on the move: New Zealand geoscience in the 21st Century, 2nd edition (p. 132–135). Geoscience Society of New Zealand, Miscellaneous Publication 141.
Lee, J. M., Bland, K. J., Townsend, D. B., & Kamp, P. J. J. (2011). Geology of the Hawke’s Bay area: Geological map 8, Scale 1:250,000. Lower Hutt: Institute of Geological and Nuclear Sciences.
Leigh, A. H., & Clegg, S. E. (1989). Maniapoto District wild animal management plan, 1989 to 1999. Hamilton: Department of Conservation.
Leonard, G. S., Begg, J. G., & Wilson, C. N. J. (2010). Geology of the Rotorua area: Geological map 5, Scale 1:250,000. Lower Hutt: Institute of Geological and Nuclear Sciences.
Lowe, D. J., & de Lange, W. P. (2000). Volcano-meteorological tsunamis, the c. AD 200 Taupo eruption (New Zealand) and the possibility of a global tsunami. The Holocene, 10, 401–407.
Lowe, D. J., Newnham, R. M., & McCraw, J. D. (2002). Volcanism and early Maori Society in New Zealand. In R. Torrence & J. Grattan (Ed.), Natural disasters and cultural change (p. 126–161). London: Routledge.
Manville, V., White, J. D. L., Houghton, B. F., & Wilson, C. J. N. (1999). Paleohydrology and sedimentology of a post-1.8 ka breakout flood from intracaldera Lake Taupo, North Island, New Zealand. Geological Society of America Bulletin, 111, 1435–1447.
Manville, V., & Wilson, C. J. N. (2004). The 26.5 ka Oruanui eruption, New Zealand: A review of the roles of volcanism and climate in the post-eruptive sedimentary response. New Zealand Journal of Geology and Geophysics, 47, 525–547.
Manville, V., Hodgson, K. A., & Nairn, I. A. (2007). A review of break-out floods from volcanogenic lakes in New Zealand. New Zealand Journal of Geology and Geophysics, 50, 131–150.
Manville, V., Swegschneider, B., Newton, E., White, J. D. L., Houghton, B. F., & Wilson, C. J. N. (2009). Environmental impact of the 1.8 ka Taupo eruption, New Zealand: Landscape responses to a large-scale explosive rhyolite eruption. Sedimentary Geology, 220, 318–336.
McClelland, E., Wilson, C. J. N., & Bardot, L. (2004). Paleotemperature determinations for the 1.8-ka Taupo ignimbrite, New Zealand, and implications for the emplacement history of a high-velocity pyroclastic flow. Bulletin of Volcanology, 66, 492–513.
McCraw, J. D. (2011). The wandering river: Landforms and geological history of the Hamilton basin. Geoscience Society of New Zealand Guidebook, 16, 1–88.
Moebis, A., Cronin, S. J., Neall, V. E., & Smith, I. E. M. (2011). Unravelling a complex volcanic history from fine-grained, intricate Holocene ash sequences at the Tongariro Volcanic Centre, New Zealand. Quaternary International, 246, 352–363.
New Zealand Forest Service (1980). Pureora State Forest Park management plan. Auckland: New Zealand Forest Service, Auckland Conservancy.
Nicholls, J. (1986). A descriptive overview of the central North Island volcanic upland. In B. Veale & J. G. Innes (Ed.), Ecological research in the central North Island Volcanic Plateau region (p. 2–17). Rotorua: Forest Research Institute.
O’Loughlin, C. (1978). Hydrology of the Hauhungaroa Range state forests in relation to forest management practices. Management proposals for State Forests of the Rangitoto and Hauhungaroa Ranges, Central North Island, Taupo, 28–30 March 1978. Wellington: New Zealand Forest Service.
Selby, M. J. (1973). The erodibility of pumice soils of the North Island, New Zealand. Journal of Hydrology (NZ), 12, 32–56.
Selby, M. J., & Lowe, D. J. (1992). The middle Waikato Basin and hills. In J. M. Soons & M. J. Selby (Ed.), Landforms of New Zealand, 2nd edition (p. 233–255). Auckland: Longman Paul.
Sherwood, A., & Edbrooke, S. (2015). Rocks that burn. In I. J. Graham (Ed.), A continent on the move: New Zealand geoscience in the 21st century, 2nd edition (p. 326–329). Geoscience Society of New Zealand, Miscellaneous Publication 141.
Smith, R., Lowe, D. J., & Wright, I. (2012). Volcanoes. Te Ara—The Encyclopedia of New Zealand, http://www.TeAra.govt.nz/en/volcanoes, updated 9-Nov-12.
Sutherland, R., & King, P. (2015). Leaving Gondwana behind. In I. J. Graham (Ed.), A continent on the move: New Zealand geoscience in the 21st century, 2nd edition (p. 130–131). Geoscience Society of New Zealand, Miscellaneous Publication 141.
Thornton, J. (1985). Field guide to New Zealand geology. Auckland: Reed Methuen.
Townsend, D., Vonk, A., & Kamp, P. J. J. (2008). Geology of the Taranaki area: Geological map 7, Scale 1:250,000. Lower Hutt: Institute of Geological and Nuclear Sciences.
Vandergoes, M. J., Hogg, A. G., Lowe, D. J., Newnham, R. M., Denton, G. H., Southon, J., Barrell, D. J. A., Wilson, C. J. N., McGlone, M. S., Allan, A. S. R., Almond, P. C., Petchey, F., Dalbell, K., Dieffenbacher-Krall, A. C., & Blaauw, M. (2013). A revised age for the Kawakawa/Oruanui tephra, a key marker for the Last Glacial Maximum in New Zealand. Quaternary Science Reviews, 74, 170–194.
Walker, A., & Cooke, R. (2003). Waimiha: People of character. Waimiha: Waimiha Reunion 2001 Committee.
Walker, G. (1980). The Taupo pumice: Product of the most powerful known (ultraplinian) eruption? Journal of Volcanology and Geothermal Research, 8, 69–94.
Wilkes, O., Gaukrodger, J., & Ritchie, N. (2011). Chronology of Pureora. Hamilton: Department of Conservation.
Wilmshurst, J. M., & McGlone, M. S. (1996). Forest disturbance in the central North Island, New Zealand, following the 1850 BP Taupo eruption. The Holocene, 6, 399–411.
Wilson, C., & Leonard, G. (2015). Slumbering giants. In I. J. Graham (Ed.), A continent on the move: New Zealand geoscience in the 21st century, 2nd edition (p. 168–171). Geoscience Society of New Zealand, Miscellaneous Publication 141.
Wilson, C. J. N. (1985). The Taupo eruption, New Zealand II. The Taupo ignimbrite. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society, London A, 314, 229–310.
Wilson, C. J. N., & Walker, G. P. L. (1985). The Taupo eruption, New Zealand. I. General aspects. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society, London A, 314, 199–228.
Wilson, C. J. N. (1993). Stratigraphy, chronology, styles and dynamics of Late Quaternary eruptions from Taupo volcano, New Zealand. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London A, 343, 205–306.
Wilson, C. J. N. (2001). The 26.5 ka Oruanui eruption, New Zealand: An introduction and overview. Journal of Volcanology and Geothermal Research, 112, 133–174.
Wilson, C. J. N. (2008). Supereruptions and supervolcanoes: Processes and products. Elements, 4, 20–34.
Wilson, C. J. N., Gravley, D. M., Leonard, G. S., & Rowland, J. V. (2009). Volcanism in the Central Taupo Volcanic Zone, New Zealand: Tempo, styles and controls. In T. Thordarson, S. Self, G. Larsen, S. K. Rowland & A. Hoskuldsson (Ed.), Studies in volcanology: The legacy of George Walker (p. 225–247). London: Geological Society, London, Special Publications of IAVCEI 2.
Worthy, T. H., & Holdaway, R. N. (2002). The lost world of the moa. Bloomington: Indiana University Press.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2015 Crown Copyright
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Lowe, D.J., King, C.M. (2015). A Dramatic Landscape. In: King, C., Gaukrodger, D., Ritchie, N. (eds) The Drama of Conservation. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-18410-4_1
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-18410-4_1
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-319-18409-8
Online ISBN: 978-3-319-18410-4
eBook Packages: Biomedical and Life SciencesBiomedical and Life Sciences (R0)