The Jurassic fossil forests at Curio Bay appear to have been overwhelmed by water-lain material, not by air-fall volcanic ash. But the broader location was somewhere on a floodplain adjacent a highland with active volcanoes – so surely the forests were blanketed with ash from time to time? In the cliff below the lookout is… Continue reading Three Kinds of Volcanic Ash around the Jurassic Fossil Forests of Curio Bay
Category: Curio Bay – New Zealand’s Jurassic Fossil Forest
Dinoturbation at Curio Bay Jurassic Forest?
This year I headed down to the Jurassic fossil forests at Curio Bay, in one of the worst stretches of spring weather I’ve experienced. Lots of rain, and a high, rough sea – but I wanted to have a good look at the zones of bioturbation I’d come across years ago, and get some photos… Continue reading Dinoturbation at Curio Bay Jurassic Forest?
Bioturbation near the Jurassic Fossil Forests at Curio Bay
The ‘God’ of trace fossils, Adolf ‘Dolf’ Seilacher, once visited our Geology Department, when I was an undergrad. My Prof, Doug Campbell, arranged a field trip for him, and invited me to come. We went to the Oamaru area, and quite incidentally, we took Seilacher to see some of the well-known early Polynesian rock art… Continue reading Bioturbation near the Jurassic Fossil Forests at Curio Bay
The Jurassic Fossil Forests at Curio Bay, New Zealand, and their connection to two remarkable English scientists
The Jurassic fossil forests at Curio Bay, southern New Zealand, have been known for at least a hundred and fifty years. They first appear to have come under scientific scrutiny in 1878, when the geologist James Hector collected there. He was followed by another geologist, Hector in 1878, and then James Park, who visited in… Continue reading The Jurassic Fossil Forests at Curio Bay, New Zealand, and their connection to two remarkable English scientists
The Jurassic fossil soils of Curio Bay, and Fortrose-Otara, New Zealand
Soils “lie at the interface between earth, air, water, and life” (Needelman, 2013). They are constantly evolving in response to what is around them – such as the climate. For this reason, some scientists have made the study of fossil soils one of their specialties. One of these is Greg Retallack, who has written many… Continue reading The Jurassic fossil soils of Curio Bay, and Fortrose-Otara, New Zealand
The Hollow Tree Stumps at Curio Bay
A hollow tree stump at the Jurassic fossil forest of Curio Bay, New Zealand. The inside of the stump (the wood is yellow, and has come black, ‘coally’ material inside) has been filled with sandy material (grey). Could this be an in-filled fire-scar? The Jurassic fossil forest exposed on the shore at Curio Bay, southern… Continue reading The Hollow Tree Stumps at Curio Bay
How Much Carbon Dioxide was in the Atmosphere of New Zealand’s Jurassic Curio Bay Fossil Forest?
How do you figure out how much carbon dioxide was in the atmosphere millions of years ago? In the Jurassic, the fossil forest at Curio Bay in New Zealand was probably growing in higher latitudes than any forest in the Southern Hemisphere today. The reasons for this will be a combination of altered geography (a… Continue reading How Much Carbon Dioxide was in the Atmosphere of New Zealand’s Jurassic Curio Bay Fossil Forest?
Were there dinosaurs in New Zealand’s Jurassic Fossil Forest at Curio Bay?
In the Jurassic you could have walked from what is now the fossil forest at Curio Bay in southernmost New Zealand (see featured image), to Australia, or Antarctica. Both continents were then part of Gondwana, and Curio Bay was somewhere near Gondwana’s coast. Did dinosaurs travel as freely, and would they have roamed the forest?… Continue reading Were there dinosaurs in New Zealand’s Jurassic Fossil Forest at Curio Bay?
What latitude did the Jurassic Fossil Forest of Curio Bay grow at?
The Jurassic fossil forest of Curio Bay today lies almost at the southern tip of New Zealand’s South Island. In the Jurassic, you could have walked from Curio Bay to what is now Australia and Antarctica (Dinosaurs may have done just that). We know from Tasman Sea and Southern Ocean sea-floor data that the western… Continue reading What latitude did the Jurassic Fossil Forest of Curio Bay grow at?
Deciduous Conifers in New Zealand’s Jurassic Fossil Forest at Curio Bay
As you pull up in the car park above the fossil forest at Curio Bay (Pole 1999, 2001, 2004, 2009), there is a wonderful patch of living, native forest, just behind. Its conifers, like all New Zealand conifers today, are evergreen. But what of Curio Bay’s forest, back in the Jurassic? The most common type… Continue reading Deciduous Conifers in New Zealand’s Jurassic Fossil Forest at Curio Bay