View source for Curio Bay

{{Use dmy dates|date=June 2015}}
{{Use New Zealand English|date=June 2015}}
{{coord|46|39|44.44|S|169|05|52.52|E|region:NZ_type:landmark|display=title}}
[[File:The Catlins MC.jpg|thumb|upright=1.3|Curio Bay panorama]]
'''Curio Bay''' is a coastal embayment in the [[Southland District]] of [[New Zealand]], best known as the site of a [[petrified wood|petrified forest]] some 180 million years old. It also hosts a [[yellow-eyed penguin]] colony, arguably the rarest of penguin species, with approximately 1600 breeding pairs in the extant population. The bay, along with neighbouring [[Porpoise Bay (New Zealand)|Porpoise Bay]], is home to the endemic [[Hector's dolphin]].<ref name=DOC/> [[Southern right whale]]s are occasionally observed offshore, as on numerous parts of the country's coast.<ref>{{cite book |last=Patenaude |first=Nathalie J. |date=2003 |title=Sightings of southern right whales around 'mainland' New Zealand |series=Science for Conservation 225 |issn=1173-2946 |url= http://www.doc.govt.nz/Documents/science-and-technical/sfc225a.pdf |publisher=Department of Conservation |page=33 |isbn=0478224540}}</ref> Located near the [[Slope Point|southernmost point]] of the [[South Island]],<ref>R. Buckingham and J. Hall-Jones. 1985</ref> Curio Bay is one of the major attractions in [[the Catlins]], attracting around 100,000 visitors per year.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.curiobay.org/natural-heritage-centre/ |title=Natural Heritage Centre |publisher=South Catlins Development & Environmental Charitable Trust |access-date=2014-02-26 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140304071233/http://www.curiobay.org/natural-heritage-centre/ |archive-date=4 March 2014 |url-status=dead }}</ref> The town of [[Waikawa, Southland|Waikawa]] has an information centre for tourists.
[[File:Petrified log at Curio Bay.jpg|thumb|left|upright|A petrified log at Curio Bay with ''[[Hormosira banksii]]'' growing nearby]]
[[File:Tocones fósiles de coníferas (Jurásico) - Curio Bay Petrified Forest (Waikawa, South Island, Nueva Zelanda) - 27.jpg|alt=Fossil tree stump with growth rings|thumb|Fossil tree stump with growth rings]]
[[File:Tocones fósiles de coníferas (Jurásico) - Curio Bay Petrified Forest (Waikawa, South Island, Nueva Zelanda) - 34.jpg|alt=Fossil tree stump with growth rings|thumb|Fossil tree stump with growth rings]]
[[File:Tocones fósiles de coníferas (Jurásico) - Curio Bay Petrified Forest (Waikawa, South Island, Nueva Zelanda) - 06.jpg|alt=Many fossil tree stumps are scattered along the tidal platform. Tree density of the Curio Bay Jurassic forest is thought to have been about 552–851 trees/ha.|thumb|Many fossil tree stumps are scattered along the tidal platform. [https://www.researchgate.net/publication/222772888_Structure_of_a_near-polar_latitude_forest_from_the_New_Zealand_Jurassic Tree density] of the Curio Bay Jurassic forest is thought to have been about 552–851 trees/ha.]]
The now petrified logs, from ancient [[conifer]]s closely related to modern [[kauri]] and [[Norfolk pine]], were buried by ancient [[volcanic]] mud flows and gradually replaced by [[silica]] to produce the [[fossil]]s now exposed by the sea.

The fossilised forest grew at a time of semi-tropical climate and before grasses and flowering plants had come into existence. The original forest of [[cycad]]s, conifers and ferns was buried by massive floods of ash and volcanic debris either directly from a volcanic eruption or from later heavy rain on a barren volcanic mountain. Distinct bands of fossilised vegetation exposed in the cliff face indicate that in between such floods, the forest grew back at least four times over a period of some 20,000 years.  Following this, the area remained buried over millions of years.  Silica started to impregnate the wood and eventually turned it into stone, preserving not just tree stumps and wood, but in some places also fern fronds and leaves.<ref name=DOC/>

Known fossil forests of this age are very few throughout the world, and this is one of the most extensive and least disturbed of them.  The overall area stretches for {{convert|20|km|mi|0}} from Curio Bay to [[Slope Point]].<ref name=DOC>{{Cite web|url=http://www.doc.govt.nz/parks-and-recreation/places-to-go/otago/places/catlins-coastal-area/curio-bay-porpoise-bay/ |title=Curio Bay/Porpoise Bay |publisher=[[Department of Conservation (New Zealand)]] |access-date=2016-01-31}}</ref>

At low tide, the remaining tree stumps and logs are exposed and clearly visible.  A short walkway leads from the car park at the end of the sealed road to a viewing platform over this internationally important area.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.curiobay.org/|title=Curio Bay Natural Heritage Centre|publisher=South Catlins Development & Environmental Charitable Trust|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140304071653/http://www.curiobay.org/|access-date=2014-02-26|archive-date=4 March 2014}}</ref> It is strictly prohibited to damage or remove anything from the area.

==References==
{{reflist}}

==Bibliography==
{{commons category}}
*R. Buckingham and J. Hall-Jones. 1985. ''The Catlins''. Invercargill: Department of Conservation. {{ISBN|0-477-05758-6}}.
*[[Neville Peat|N. Peat]]. 1998. ''The Catlins and the Southern Scenic Route''. Dunedin: University of Otago Press. {{ISBN|1-877133-42-6}}.
*Pole, M. 1999. [https://www.researchgate.net/publication/222772888_Structure_of_a_near-polar_latitude_forest_from_the_New_Zealand_Jurassic Structure of a near-polar latitude forest from the New Zealand  Jurassic].  Palaeogeogr.  Palaeoclimatol.  Palaeoecol.  147:121–139.

{{Petrified forests}}

[[Category:Mesozoic paleontological sites of Oceania]]
[[Category:Bays of the Southland Region]]
[[Category:Southern Scenic Route]]
[[Category:Rock formations of New Zealand]]
[[Category:The Catlins]]
[[Category:Petrified forests]]
[[Category:Tourist attractions in the Southland Region]]
[[Category:Jurassic paleontological sites]]
[[Category:Paleontological sites of New Zealand]]
[[Category:Southland District]]