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
Tag: Gondwana
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
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
How Tall were the trees in New Zealand’s Jurassic Fossil Forest at Curio Bay?
At Curio Bay near the southernmost point of New Zealand’’s South Island, you can walk around the remains of a Jurassic fossil forest. Tree stumps are still in their growth position, and fossilised logs criss-cross through the sandstone overlying them. So can we add these pieces of information together – and see what the Curio… Continue reading How Tall were the trees in New Zealand’s Jurassic Fossil Forest at Curio Bay?
New Zealand’s Hawks Crag Breccia – prelude to the drift from Gondwana
The New Zealand road network has some seriously quirky idiosyncrasies – little things we locals take for granted, but can cause some alarm to the ever-increasing number of tourists. There are, for example, hundreds of ‘one lane’ bridges. And about these, I was once asked, in total exasperation by an American “Why don’t you just… Continue reading New Zealand’s Hawks Crag Breccia – prelude to the drift from Gondwana
The Biggest Tree Stump in the Curio Bay Jurassic Forest
Back in the late 1980s I had the pleasure of meeting the English scientist David Bellamy. Bellamy was famous at the time as ‘The Botanic Man’, and he was in New Zealand to film for ‘Moa’s Ark’, a TV series and book about the development of New Zealand’s flora and fauna (including the extinct moa birds)… Continue reading The Biggest Tree Stump in the Curio Bay Jurassic Forest
Almost a Holocaust – the latest Triassic, Pollock Road, New Zealand
What a difference nearly thirty years makes. In 1986 the Prof of Geology at Otago University showed me some recently collected plant fossils and asked to me to “confirm they are Jurassic”. The fossils had been collected by Steve Cournane, while he was mapping for his research in Southland farming country. They came from a small… Continue reading Almost a Holocaust – the latest Triassic, Pollock Road, New Zealand
Beetroot with your Peanut Butter and Marmite? The basic geological structure of New Zealand
New Zealand must be one of the best places on the planet for geology. We are famous among tourists for having so much variety of landscape in such a small area – you don’t have to drive far to see something totally different. This goes for the geology as well. The basic geological structure became… Continue reading Beetroot with your Peanut Butter and Marmite? The basic geological structure of New Zealand