llCÐG.,,t:,U,i.. IIVA sotL TEC H N ICAL PUBLI CATI O N A SURVEY OF No. NEW ZEALAND PEAT RESOURCES l4 | 978 PUBLISHED BY THE UNIVERSITY OF WAIKATO FOR NATIONAL WATER AND SOIL CONSERVATION ORGANISATION Water & soil technical publication no. 14 (1978) t- Water & soil technical publication no. 14 (1978) ./)1)1>;-- ì-r ;\ Ot 'g l¡.'t¡{_.. s ---.--,/ \ \i \ ô\'o \ 'qò \ --- -t---' lø'¡'l Ro^,Þ-- HIKURANGI TRIG. A .Sbb rn. eof S^* VALLÉY HIKURANGI 2 I Watero & soil technical publication no. 14 (1978) 2 3km SCALE , I ,25 C,OO I ,l rl ,l A SURVEY OF NEW ZEALAND PEAT RESOURCES p BY A. DAVOREN CO-ORDINATE D BY PROFESSOR J. D. MC CRAVV, UNIVERSITY OF WAIKATO, WITH CONTRIBUTIONS FROM K. THOMPSON, UNIVERSITY OF WAIKATO. Water & soil technical publication no. 14 (1978) A SURVEY OF ¡TEW ZtrAI.ÀND PE,ÀT BESOUBOES A. I)avoren, Hamilton Science Centre, Water and Soil Division Ministry of Works and Development, Hamilton Water and Soil Technical Publication No 8, 1978. ABSTRACT survey of peat pe and amount regions where Thefie-ld $r_ork, comp_rising mapping of peat boundaries, probing for depth and sampling for indentification õf planl remãins-, was carried out beiùeen Nõvembdr 1926 and MãrcÉ L977. were investigated. Peatlands on st of the main divide between However sources of information Peats inves an million m3. A There were a f some eutro ide drainage and development, burning or merely grazing by stock. Published by the the University of ïVaikato, for the National lVater and Soil Con- servation Organisation. Copyright,1978. PRINlEÞ EY IHE OIEEORNE HERALD CO. LTD. Water & soil technical publication no. 14 (1978) PREFACE Peatlan special develop difficult surface ge after draining and so on. Latety there has been a growing awareness, perhaps engendered by overseas practice, that peatlands may be too valuable to be used only and tlat other uses may have an equal or even greaterc But then there are thosè who would hold that large areas shoultl be wildfowl e vegetation can be material or for ex-, In the face of these competing and conflicting claims the task of deciding the most appropriate use for individual peat deposits becomes a daunting one especially when it is realised that the decision to use the peat for one particular purpose may well mean that it cannot be used for any other. Furthermore any disturbance of part of a peat deposit is very likely to affect not only the whole deposit but neighbouring farmlands and rivers as well. It is important therefore, that as much factual information as possible be available before final decisions are made. With this in mind the Chairman of the SoiI Conservation and Rivers Control Council asked the University of Waikato to undertake a survey of New Zealand's peat resources to determine, as far as possible, where peat occurs, in what quantities and of what kind. The information was to be summarised in report form and produced as quickly as possible. of the area of almost every peat deposit in Ne Bureau Bulletins 5 and 27) Eive information about the composition of the near-surface peat but nothing about the thickness of the deposits. The Department of Lands and Survey, Drainage Board5 and Catchment Authorities have all, at various times, prepared maps of individual peat bogs and some of these show the depths of peat but invariably they lack information about the composition of the peat. Iîsoon became o-¡viousftrat field work would be necessary to supplement the existing data. interest and expertise in different aspects of Development who acted as Technical Secretary. se of specialised equipment. It was also decided ablish the thickness of peat was a very necessary identification and classification of the peat would as reasoned that the large amount of extra time e justified by the value to the survey of the extra information obtained. Simple probes and samplers were designed and constructed with emphasis on ease of repair, maiñtenance and assembly. It is essential that C. Jowsey in The New Phytologist, vol. 65 Water & soil technical publication no. 14 (1978) workshops. Because they were designed to be discarded at the end of the survey-the they were con- structed from tubing normally used for motor car exhaust pipes instead of more usual stainless steel. They were, in fact, still in good working order when the survey was completed. Mr Davoren undertook the collection of information held by Catchment Authorities, Drainage Boards, private firms and individuals and Government Departments. Much of this was mailed õn requerst but Mr Davoren visited a number of institutions throughout the country to assist in the search for information. When it was all asscmbled he assessed the kind and quantity of in- formation still needed to satisfy the requirements of the survey. A grogp of student al training on the peatlands near Hamilton and as they gained confidence sent further afieltl. Initially they worked in pairs bût where personnel w the surr ey by Catchment aúthorifies the studehts acted as team leaders and at some stages as many as four teams were in the field at the one time. Mr he logistics, carrying out reconnaissance ahead tual field work. s making up the were uncertain cluding those of individual peat deposits draughtsmen of the Ministry of Works ãnd De lvVe a f this survey. Constant decisions had to be made weighing time work agaiñst the value of any extra information gaìned-. Cons were nolvisited. These fell int-o several categories'L (a) be ng in a similar in The numerous ead patches of "i (b) A number of deposits were.difficult of access without special transport. For example, to reaeh the blank_et_peals of Fiordl_and would have required a major exþedition; the veiy {vet bogs-in_parts of Westland and along the lower couise of the Waikatõ River'could oniy be reached by boat. (c) The depositis of Stewart Island, Chatham Islands and the west coast of Wellington havq alreatiy been covei eu by ¡'ecent surveys. It was-kept in mind that the information gained dg{ing this reconnaissance probably valid for only would be a.limited number of vears-and that if íutter inlóimätiõn"õu"" required from a particular deþosit then this would be obtaine¿ ¡v iãôtãiied ;irrv.;i-oîäiô"i"¿iuia";iä"i,-osit.'""' The preparation of a comprehensive bibliograph by the Nationat Water and Soil Organisation) separate publication in the near future. For thi published--reports that were consulted during th individually apart from a few major referenões of the text. ct the Group to the innumerable individuals and in^g..informatio! for this survey, to thé field of the work and to Mr Davorenïtro tráltoiËà J. D. McCRAW, Professor of Earth Sciences. Water & soil technical publication no. 14 (1978) FOREIryORI) eriencing high rainfalls, with mountains and many of swamÞs a-nd Þogs. Soine of these are extensive nearly 2+O ymz many are small and the high- ed witli a variety of other óommunities of vegetation. areas. Some of the shallower lowland swamp producing pastures or cropping that they are u ln agricuftural production through controlled d arked inerease in the in doing so'levels eam and river flood ontrolled by having r There is a detailed knowledge of some swamps and_ bogs,_but no-broad survey has been avaitablstõiãte. tñis survey fills-the gap and gives us a clearérknowledge of our peat resources which are rapidly being converted. Chairman SoiI Conservation and Rivers Control Council Water & soil technical publication no. 14 (1978) CONTENTS INTRODUCTION 1. World Peat Resources . 1 2. Peatland Types 1 3. Utilisation of Peat and PeaUands 3 4. Peat Resources Survey 6 Key to Maps I Key to Peat Profiles. I NORTH ISLAND PEAT SWAMP LOCATIONS. 11 SOUTH ISLAND PEAT SIüAMP LOCATIONS . 13 NORTH ISLAND PEAT SWAMPS: 1. S\¡VEETWATER 15 2. HIKURANGI. 17 Hikurangi2.... Hikurangi3.... ......:.... 20 Hikurangi4.... 22 g. rrVAIpU 24 4. \ryHANGAMARINO _ ISLAND BLOCK 26 5. HAURAKI .. ....... 29 6. OHINE\ryAI ... 34 ?.TEMIMIHA. .......36 8. HOE-O-TAINUI. 39 9.ORINI .......41 10.KAINUI..... .......43 II.KOMAKARAU. .....44 1z.OHOTE ......46 13.KAITUNA... .......48 14. WAIHI ....... 50 15. RUKUHIA ... ...... 52 16. MOANATUATUA 56 17.TARA\ryERA. ......60 18. POUKA\ryA. ....... 62 1g.TEAUTE ....64 Water & soil technical publication no. 14 (1978) SOUTH ISLAND PEAT SIryAMPS 20. KONGAHU.. ....... 66 21. KOKATAHI . .... ' '. 68 22. GROVES S\ryAMP 7L 23. KOÏYHITIRANGI 73 24.SHEARERSS\ryAMP.... ........74 25. OHINETAMATEA 76 26. KINISTffAMP. ...... 78 zT.MAORILAKES .....80 28. CARTERS MILL . .. 82 2g.SPONGES\ryAMP ...84 3O.OLDMANRANGE ......" 88 31. LONGVALLEY. 90 32. ROCKANDPILLARRANGE.... ....... 92 33. GREAT MOSS SWAMP 94 34. MIDDLE S\ryAMP 96 35. HOME CREEK 98 36.REDSWAMP. ......100 3?. TEVTOT SWAMP . .toz 38. LAMMERMOOR RANGE . 104 39. CLARKSJnNCTION.... '106 40. HAMILTONBURN . .108 41'soBIG """'110 42. DEEp STREAM . ..ILz 43. SÏVAMPYHILL. ...1.. .. ' ' 114 44. CASTLE DO\ryNS . .115 45. MOSGIELPONDING... ...117 46. MAUN6ATUA. .. .118 47. BLUE MOTINTAINS. .. .119 48. BLACKSWAMp ....rzt 49. SPRINGHILLS . ,...L23 Springhills1.... ""124 SpringtrittsS.... ""125 Springtritts 4 ... " "127 SPringtritts5..'. ""L28 Springfrinsg.... .;.... ""I29 Springtrittsll ... ""131 so.otnÙtAu'' """'132 5I.DRUMMOND. ......134 52. STIRLINç.. .......136 53. TUSSOCK CREEK . 139 s4'orANoMoMo' "'''141 55. SCHOOLROAD .....L44 s6.ROSLyNBUSH .....146 52. RIyERTON. .......148 Riverton1.... ......148 Riverton1.... ......150 58. TAHAKOPA. ') " " 'tsz 59. AWARUAPLAIN-SEAWARD MOSS. ' .155 Water & soil technical publication no. 14 (1978) INTRODUCTION Although a great deal is now known about 2. Peatland tyPes the distribution and characteristics of northern 2.l Terminology temperate peats, this report represents the first A sood account-is given in Taylor, N.H. & systèmatic- attempt to catalouge the .-peat pohienÏ l.J. (1962) SoiI Survev Method. SoiI rêsources of ant region in the Southern gureau gutl.