The history and trends in farming and land use in the Rangitikei catchment

Authors: Angus Gordon
Publication: New Zealand Journal of Forestry, Volume N.Z.J.For. 2009, Issue N.Z.J.For. 54(1) 2009, pp 20-26, May 2009
Publisher: New Zealand Institute of Forestry

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Abstract: The Rangitikei catchment is as diverse as any that you will find in New Zealand. The Rangitikei River rises in the interior of the north island in an area bounded by the Kaimanawa ranges to the north and west, and the Kaweka ranges to the north east and east. The rock type here is predominantly greywacke basement rock that has been uplifted to an altitude of around 1500 m above sea level. In some areas in these uplands there are of volcanic tephras that have been erupted from the andesite volcanoes of the Tongariro national park to the west , and also rhyolite pumice from the Taupo volcanic zone to the north east. It is thought that this area historically, was the general source region for most of the sedimentary material that was deposited in much of the Wanganui sedimentary basin through which the Rangitikei River has carved its path. As you follow the river south from its source you slowly move from the old metamorphic greywacke rocks into increasingly younger sediments that have been deposited over the last five million years. It is on these young sedimentary rocks that the farming systems in the Rangitikei have evolved.

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