Kohuora, located in the suburb of
Papatoetoe
Papatoetoe is a suburb in Auckland, New Zealand. It is the largest suburb in Auckland by population and is located to the northwest of Manukau, Manukau Central, and southeast of Auckland CBD.
Papatoetoe was traditionally an important area fo ...
,
is one of the
volcano
A volcano is commonly defined as a vent or fissure in the crust of a planetary-mass object, such as Earth, that allows hot lava, volcanic ash, and gases to escape from a magma chamber below the surface.
On Earth, volcanoes are most oft ...
es in the
Auckland volcanic field
The Auckland volcanic field is an area of monogenetic volcanoes covered by much of the metropolitan area of Auckland, New Zealand's largest city, located in the North Island. The approximately 53 volcanoes in the field have produced a divers ...
in the
North Island
The North Island ( , 'the fish of Māui', historically New Ulster) is one of the two main islands of New Zealand, islands of New Zealand, separated from the larger but less populous South Island by Cook Strait. With an area of , it is the List ...
of New Zealand.
Geology and geography
The Kohuora complex is a freshwater wetland found in a tuff ring, that has an explosion crater around 600 metres wide and 30 metres deep. Kohuora erupted an estimated 34 million years ago,
and the irregular V-shape of the complex indicated that there were at least three
explosion crater vents.
Peat and
lacustrine deposits
Lacustrine deposits are sedimentary rock formations which formed in the bottom of ancient lakes. A common characteristic of lacustrine deposits is that a river or stream channel has carried sediment into the basin. Lacustrine deposits form in all ...
layer on top of the volcanic soil of the Kohuora.
The Kohuora wetland is an important habitat for native bird and plant species, including ''
Carex subdola'', a sedge rare in the Auckland area.
History
The volcano, alongside
Māngere Lagoon,
Waitomokia,
Crater Hill,
Pukaki Lagoon and
Robertson Hill, is one of the volcanic features collectively referred to as Nga Tapuwae a Mataoho ("The Sacred Footprints of
Mataoho"), referring to the deity in
Tāmaki Māori myths who was involved in their creation.
The name Kohuora means "mists of life", and the volcano is occasionally referred to as Kohuaroa ("The cauldron of life").
References
Bibliography
*''City of Volcanoes: A geology of Auckland'' - Searle, Ernest J.; revised by Mayhill, R.D.; Longman Paul, 1981. First published 1964. .
*"Volcanoes of Auckland: The essential guide." - Bruce Hayward, Graeme Murdoch, Gordon Maitland; Auckland University Press, 2011.
*''Volcanoes of Auckland: A Field Guide''. Hayward, B.W.; Auckland University Press, 2019, 335 pp. .
External links
Kohuora Park.Photograph of Kohuora
held in Auckland Libraries' heritage collections.
Auckland volcanic field
Ōtara-Papatoetoe Local Board Area
{{Auckland-geo-stub