During primary successions, soils develop. Different layers form as the soil weathers and organic matter builds up. This soil on sand dunes at Waitārere, on the North Island’s west coast, is very young. A shallow layer of topsoil (2–3 centimetres deep), darkened by organic matter, has built up above a deep layer of sand in which tree roots and fern rhizomes grow.
Te whakamahi i tēnei tūemi
Reference: Les Molloy, Soils in the New Zealand landscape: the living mantle. Wellington: Mallinson Rendel, 1988, plate 6.14
by Quentin Christie
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