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Kōrero: Floods

Silt layers

Image
A hole dug into farmland, with a 50cm ruler and layers of silt.

This pit was dug near the Ōroua River, downstream from the Kopane bridge. The scale is in centimetres. The top 15 centimetres is silt deposited by the flood in 2004, overlying dead grass from former pasture. Distinct silt layers can be seen lower down in the pit, indicating that flooding of the river plain occurs repeatedly and is part of the soil-forming process.    

Te whakamahi i tēnei tūemi

Private collection

by Carolyn Hedley

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.

Ngā whakaahua me ngā rauemi katoa o tēnei kōrero

Me pēnei te tohu i te whārang

Eileen McSaveney, Floods – 21st century floods, Te Ara – the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, https://teara.govt.nz/mi/photograph/6933/silt-layers (accessed 4 June 2026).

He kōrero nā Eileen McSaveney, i tāngia i te 2 March 2009, updated 1 February 2024.