MOAS IN MUD HOLES

Evening Post, Volume CXXIII, Issue 135, 9 June 1937, Page 6

MOAS IN MUD HOLES

UNWARY BIRDS TRAPPED

The discovery of moa bones in mud I holes at Upokongaro, some nine miles north-east of Wanganui, provided material for the last meeting of the Geological section of the Wellington Philosophical Society Mr. J. Marwick reading a paper on the subject. The hole from which most moa bones were recovered he described as being about 50ft across, the mud being comparatively liquid with a consistency of cream. After discussing the possible causes of the formation of such holes, Mr. Marwick said that the fact that moa bones were discovered 26 feet below the surface led to the hypothesis of buried swamps. The method of seI curing the bones was to poke round in ! the mud with a long pole and then to fish up with a hook any obstruction .felt. During the intervals when work was suspended, additional bones seemed to be carried into the hole from the sides. This suggested that the hole was above an old swamp containing a moabone bed that had been covered to a considerable depth by the alluvium of th(; main terrace. , The contour of the country, too, supported the "sunken swamp" hypothesis. It may have been that the holes had acted as traps for unwary or feeble birds, or it may have been that the bones were buried in the. alluvium before the formation of the holes. Although there were difficulties in the way of accepting the first of these two hypotheses, yet it seemed to be the most likely.