New Zealand's 18 million-year-old forest whose trees have become 'stones'

NEW ZEALAND : OLD FOREST WHOSE TREE BECOME STONE

The Age of Sail refers to the period from the 16th to the 19th century when ships were the main means of trade, warfare, or transportation. It was a period in which naval power was the reflection of the progress of nations.

You take a globe and go to Earth's longitude 170. If you move your finger down parallel to this line, the region you will be looking at, the region was named 'Roaring Forties' during this period. The reason for the name 'Roaring Forties' was because of the strong westerly winds in this region. In the same region of the South Pacific Ocean you will find the pristine islands of New Zealand.

Being a remote country on earth, this area has a strange attraction. I was traveling in the southern island of New Zealand, called the Caitlins, where the cold winds of Antarctica cast a spell on the Kiwi coastline.

The 100 km long stretch of road is difficult and contains large-scale sea caves and jagged rock piles. There are also dense forests with waterfalls like the Dev Malayan stories where the chirping of birds makes their presence felt.

Within this bend of the coast lies a clue to the birthplace of New Zealand. This magical landscape is home to the ancient geological phenomenon of Cario Bay, one of the rarest forests in the world.

During the Jurassic period, about 180 million years ago, the Curio Bay region was part of the eastern margin of the continent of Gondwana, connected to Australia and Antarctica while most of the future New Zealand lay beneath the waves.

It was a time when this vast region was a coastal floodplain surrounded by volcanic mountains. The ash spewing from these volcanic mountains continued to destroy the forests. Surrounded by mud-laden, oxygen-deprived and volcanic ash-filled floodwaters, tree trunks gradually turned to stone.

'A liquid full of dissolved silica would have seeped into the buried wood, then solidified within the wood cells,' explained Dr Mike Poole, a New Zealand geologist, geologist and botanist. 'The end result in these voids would be complete replacement of the wood, often down to the core cell level.'

Over the past 10,000 years, the sea here has been like an archaeologist, bit by bit exposing the buried forest and scraping away layers of mud and sandstone.

What makes Curio Bay unique is the forest's horizontal position, caused by volcanic ash-laden floodwaters, while others - such as Arizona's Petrified Forest and Svalbard's Tropical Fossil Forest - are vertical. It is one of the few places in the world where it is accessible.

According to the New Zealand Geological Survey, 'known fossil forests of the Jurassic period are few in the world and this is the most diverse and remarkable of them all.'

Furthermore, while most petrified forests are far from a modern forest, the Petrified Forest of Curio Bay, which represents an ancient Gondwana forest of cycads, gingkos, conifers and ferns, still has species present. are

About 80 percent of New Zealand's trees, ferns and flowering plants are native, having grown in isolation over millions of years. There are unique Southern Hemisphere forests of conifers, known as podocarps, with species including Remo, Totara, Matai, Kahikati and Meru, extending into Gondwana.

While completing her geology studies at Victoria University in Wellington, New Zealand, Dr. Vanessa Thorne concluded that this fossil forest preserved in its original growth position is rare.

To study a fossil forest in its original environment, where it was buried by a volcano in a geological moment, provides greater insight into its natural ecosystem.

Thorne suggests that when New Zealand was attached to the Antarctic margin of Gondwana, this forest was growing 'within the polar circle' at about 75-78°S.

The ancestors of present-day kori and remo trees could have rapidly alternated between long, dark winters and constantly sunny summers.

This is a big difference from the present time. No tree can do that now.' This mystery adds to the uniqueness and scientific importance of Curio Bay.

Due to its geographical isolation and nutrient-rich waters, the Caithlins Coast provides an exceptional marine wildlife sanctuary for New Zealand fur seals, southern elephant seals and local Hookers or sea lions.

The area is also home to the world's rarest and smallest hector's dolphin and the world's rarest penguin species, the yellow-eyed huihu.

To my north is Porpoise Bay, where Hector's dolphins were playing in the waves with local surfers. The rocky platform of Curio Bay was to my south.

As a former geography teacher and geologist, being in the presence of an eerie forest was like finding the holy grail.

As I looked out to sea, I imagined the water rising and falling, covering the land and receding, responding to the movement of the tectonic plates beneath the earth as New Zealand slowly formed.

I imagined the volcano behind me and the fate of the young forest that was to fall violently for the last time, and the sea rising to reclaim it.

I was alarmed to see a tsunami warning sign here. It was another piece of the geological puzzle.

The country of New Zealand lies on the edge of a volcanic, geothermal and seismic zone known as the 'Ring of Fire'. Catastrophic earthquakes and volcanic eruptions still occur here today, just as they did when Curio Bay's fossil forest was formed.

I joined other fossil enthusiasts on a rock platform overlooking Curio Bay.

From the coastal breeze I caught my first glimpse of this geological phenomenon. Hundreds of petrified trunks lay before me. One was the Pompeii of the Southern Hemisphere, which was razed to the ground by the eruption and ash of the Gondwana volcano.

The waves rose and quickened at the edge of the platform. I sat on the trunks that looked like small volcanoes.

Inside their little craters, I noticed a distinct change in color. In contrast to the gray sandstone of the rock platform, these craters were mud orange and formed circles in the rock. I was looking back at Jurassic Tree Rings.

I counted the tree rings and traced them and ran my fingers along the trammel lines of prostrate stone trunks and felt the texture of the bark.

Some of the trunks were running towards the sea like railroad tracks, making half-diagonal lines at a few angles.

This ancient forest is now surrounded by small pools of sandy, rocky water and the barley-colored Neptune's necklace. Neptune's necklace is a local seaweed named after Sir Joseph Banks who took part in the Pacific expedition in 1763 with Captain Cook aboard HMS Endeavour.

An information center has recently been built here, where large screens and a film show an imaginary scene of the formation of Kyurobe, which imagines the time when the continents of Gowanda separated and the Jurassic period began.

Imaginary marine ancestors of today's whales and dolphins are also seen, while an extinct giant bird, the moa, and the sole survivor of the time of the dinosaurs, the Tatara, also appear.

Here I also learned about the stories of the Maori tribes who came to Koiro Bay for traditional food.

The remnants of his then campus are still visible here today. In 1980, the area was declared a scientific reserve for research purposes. Earlier also in 1928 steps were taken to protect these forests.

Of Curio Bay's importance on the world stage, Poole says, 'There is no other forest with so many trees that turn to stone. In this respect it is very unique. Also, the presence of its relatives in the form of a living forest nearby makes it important.

When the evening fell, I also started on my way back. I came here to see the sea, the sand, the cave and the stone forest at one corner of the world. And coming here, I placed my palm on the birth place of a country.