It doesn’t seem to have burned up and turned to charcoal, which we would expect if the tree was knocked over by the lava flow. Shock waves from the eruption may have knocked over the tree, or it may have already fallen a short time before the eruption into a pond or swamp where it was protected from being burnt by spreading lava. While the age of the tree is confirmed, scientists are unsure of its fate at the time Maungawhau/Mt Eden erupted. “Both events in their own way are creating dramatic changes to the landscape of Tāmaki Makaurau and the way we interact with it for generations to come,” says Gabriel Kirkwood, Kaitiaki for Ngāi Tai ki Tāmaki – Taiaomaurikura. “The research undertaken into the age of the tree provides a valuable insight into the history of Tāmaki Makaurau and the scientific contribution to this knowledge will not be forgotten.” Iwi involved with CRL describe the discovery as an enlightening one connecting two significant events: the eruption and creation of Maungawhau and construction of the nearby City Rail Link “It’s fantastic that a project focused firmly on Auckland’s future growth as an international city has been able to unlock a scientific treasure from a very distant past and help us learn more about the place so many New Zealanders call home,” says City Rail Link Ltd Chief Executive, Dr Sean Sweeney. The tree’s discovery was made during critical works for CRL – excavation of the new stormwater drain was necessary for the project’s tunnels to connect with Auckland’s existing rail network at Mt Eden. The earth was in the throes of an Ice Age – temperatures were colder, sea levels lower, and woolly mammoths and sabre tooth tigers still survived. Beyond Auckland, Ngāuruhoe in the central North Island did not exist either. Prominent volcanic landmarks like Rangitoto, Motukorea/Browns Island, Maungarei/Mt Wellington and the Panmure Basin did not exist. This new radiocarbon result removes any lingering doubts about the age of Maungawhau/Mt Eden.”Īuckland 28,000 years ago was very different place. It was untouched by humans, wildlife were mainly birds, and the land was covered by hardwood forest and shrubs.
“We have used other techniques to date this eruption, with similar findings. “This tree is an exciting find for volcanologists because it confirms that Maungawhau/Mt Eden erupted about 28,000 years ago,” says DEVORA Volcanologist Elaine Smid. The age of the fragments was confirmed after radiocarbon analysis by scientists and researchers at DEVORA (DEtermining VOlcanic Risk in Auckland). Radiocarbon dating has estimated that fragments are 28,000 (28 thousand) years old – a time when long extinct woolly mammoths and sabre tooth tigers still roamed the planet. The tree sections resembled much more wood than petrified rock. It was found under the basalt rather than in it. It was found at 291m at 15m deep as we entered the basalt area, which indicated that it had been knocked over at the edge of a basalt flow and smothered by the lava rather than catch on fire. In March 2019, Jeffie, the CRL machine tunneling around Eden Terrace/Mt Eden encountered what appeared to be an ‘ancient’ tree, more than 20,000 years old. The tower’s foundations were exposed when our Link Alliance contractors were excavating earth along Albert Street. “Big Ben” and the tower were decommissioned in 1902 when the city’s main fire station moved to opposite its present site in Pitt Street. The number of the bell’s gongs indicated the location of a fire.
It could be heard 11 kilometres away - providing it was a still day with no wind. There was no electricity at the time and watchmen had to use hydraulics to ring “Big Ben” and raise the alarm. In its heyday, watchmen had to huff-and-puff their way up five sets of steep stairs to reach the tower’s lookout perched almost 23 metres – roughly the length of a cricket pitch - over a town built mainly of wood and brick and vulnerable to the threat of fire.īuilt in the early 1880s, the tower was topped by a heavy bell known as “Big Ben”. Contractors at the mid-town Te Waihorotiu Station site uncovered concrete foundations and timber footings used to support the landmark wooden fire bell tower.
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