The Tsunami High on the clifftops at Henderson Bay,

Northland, you can find millions of pebbles

From That Washed that were once on the ocean floor. How did
they get on top of the cliffs? This question

Time Away
has puzzled people for years. Scientists
WHY IS THAT? James Goff and Scott Nichol wanted to find
the answer.

by Jenna Tinkle

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Photograph: Copyright © S. Nichol, used with permission

Map of NZ showing Henderson Bay: Copyright © Di Fuller, used with permission Next →
The Ring of Fire
The two scientists thought the PACIFIC RING OF FIRE
answer might have something to do
with the Pacific Ring of Fire. It’s an
area where there are lots of
volcanoes and earthquakes. The
Ring of Fire follows a line around
the Pacific Ocean where tectonic
plates meet. The plates move and
push against each other, which
causes earthquakes and volcanic
eruptions. These can, in turn, cause
tsunamis, or giant waves. New
Zealand is on the Ring of Fire.

→
About 75 percent of the
worldʼs active volcanoes
are found along the Ring
of Fire, and 90 percent of
the worldʼs earthquakes
occur there.

Map: By Alan Poole, copyright © Crown 2014 ← Previous 2 Next →

Finding evidence at Henderson Bay
James and Scott are geologists –
scientists who use evidence from the
earth to understand things that
happened in the past. They found clues
that something suddenly
EVIDENCE OF TSUNAMIS IN MĀORI ORAL HISTORY
There are many accounts of volcanic
eruptions, earthquakes, and
tsunamis in pūrākau – the stories
that have been passed down by
Māori through generations.
Illustration: By Scott Pearson, copyright © Crown 2014
changed the landscape at Henderson
Bay hundreds of years ago.
A big clue was the shape of the pebbles
on the cliffs. The pebbles were round.
This showed that they had
One pūrākau tells how Titipa and all
his fish were swept away by giant
waves in the Bay of Plenty.
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been shaped by waves. Divers have
brought up similar pebbles from the
ocean floor. And the pebbles couldn’t
have been brought in by the tide – the
cliffs are metres above sea level!
Scientists think these stories could
describe real events that happened
in the past. They believe a huge
tsunami struck in about 1450 and
destroyed Māori villages all along the
east coast of New Zealand.
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A story buried in the ground
On some of the remaining bits of dune, there are a number of
mounds. Archaeologists call these mounds “middens”. The
middens are made up of shells, bones, and burnt stones – the
remains of an umu (an earth oven). Small tuatua
shells and mud
There were two types of midden. The older one held the bones snails were
of moa. These birds became extinct about 500 years ago. It also found in a
had lots of large tuatua shells. This midden was no longer a mound here.
mound. It was spread out across the cliff top.
The other midden sat on top of the older midden’s remains.
This midden was still a mound and was from a much more
recent time. The Māori who lived in the area at that time had a
different diet. The midden held only mud snails and very small
tuatua shells.
These two middens told a story. In the time between the two Large tuatua
middens, something changed the environment at Henderson shells and moa
bones were
Bay. There were no large shellfish in the more recent midden. found
One idea is that a tsunami might have wiped out the tuatua and scattered here.
other sea life and scattered shells, bones, and umu stones across
the landscape. If this happened, any survivors would have moved
away from the coast for a time. However, Māori returned to
Henderson Bay and continued to use the good fishing spots,
freshwater ponds, and umu stones.
↑
Evidence from the middens showed there
had been a change in the environment.

Photograph: Copyright © S. Nichol, used with permission ← Previous 4 Next →

The proof is in the swamp PACIFIC RING OF FIRE

James and Scott found another important piece of

evidence in a swamp 600 metres from the sea at
Henderson Bay. James pushed an aluminium pipe into
the ground and took a sample of what lay beneath the
swamp. This is known as taking a core sample. The
sample was a record of 24,000 years of the swamp’s life.
It showed four distinct layers (see diagram).
James and Scott could see that the third layer held the
key to the puzzle. Between the 600-year-old layer and
the 24,000-year-old layer, there should have been
another thick layer of organic peat, which had been
built up over 23,000 years. It was missing!

This evidence strongly supported their

hypothesis that a tsunami had rushed over the
swamp about 600 years ago. It washed away
23,000 years of peat and replaced it with a thin
layer of ocean sediment. When it washed
away the peat, the tsunami also washed away →
a record of time.
Diagram showing
the core sample in
the aluminium pipe

Diagram: By Alan Poole, copyright © Crown 2014 ← Previous 5 Next →

The Healy volcano
James and Scott had found evidence to support their This date matches the evidence
hypothesis about the huge tsunami, but one from the core sample. The
question remained unanswered – what caused the eruption triggered a big tsunami.
tsunami in the first place? The wave came to Henderson Bay
One possibility is that it was caused by the eruption and other parts of Northland
of the Healy volcano that sits on the ocean floor to (washing away Titipa and all his
the north of East Cape. Evidence provided by the age fish in the process). Pumice from
of pumice from this undersea volcano showed that it the eruption can still be found on
last erupted about 600 years ago. Northland beaches.

→
Artistʼs impression
of scientistsʼ theory
(not to scale)

Healy volcano cross-section: By Alan Poole, copyright © Crown 2014

NZ map showing Healy volcano: By Alan Poole, copyright © Crown 2014 ← Previous 6 Next →
Why study past tsunamis? Glossary
James and Scott had solved the mystery of the pebbles on hypothesis – a proposed explanation
the clifftops at Henderson Bay. By looking at the evidence, organic peat – natural material
scientists like James and Scott give us a better (mainly plants) that has broken down over time
understanding of our history and the forces that have and become spongy
pumice – light, soft rock formed
shaped New Zealand. They also give us a better
during volcanic eruptions
understanding of where and when tsunamis could happen sediment – material (sand, dirt, rocks) carried
in the future and how to plan for them. and then deposited by water
tectonic plates – parts of Earth’s crust that move
very slowly

Photograph: “Crashing wave” by Sheila Sund from http://goo.gl/RUCNU2 is licensed under CC BY 2.0 ← Previous 7 Next →
Acknowledgments

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