Pumice is well known as a porous rock light enough to float on water. Pumice and ash cover a large part of the central North Island, forming sandy, free-draining soils that easily erode if the surface vegetation and thin topsoil are removed. This profile, in the Taupō–upper Waikato basin, shows a typically black topsoil that has developed under native shrub and fernland vegetation, and a porous subsoil.
Using this item
Reference: Les Molloy, Soils in the New Zealand landscape: the living mantle. Lincoln: New Zealand Society of Soil Science, 1988, plate 2.3
by Quentin Christie
This item has been provided for private study purposes (such as school projects, family and local history research) and any published reproduction (print or electronic) may infringe copyright law. It is the responsibility of the user of any material to obtain clearance from the copyright holder.