Matukutūruru
Scoria hill in Auckland, New Zealand
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Matukutūruru (also Te Manurewa o Tamapahore or Wiri Mountain[4]) is a volcano in Wiri. Part of the Auckland volcanic field; it is one of the Tūpuna Maunga o Tāmaki Makaurau (ancestral mountains of Auckland).
| Matukutūruru | |
|---|---|
| Wiri Mountain | |
The remnants of Matukutūruru, 2018 | |
| Highest point | |
| Elevation | 90 m (300 ft)[1][2] |
| Prominence | 60 m (200 ft)[1] |
| Coordinates | 37°00′26″S 174°51′30″E |
| Naming | |
| Pronunciation | /matʉkʉtʉːɾʉɾʉ/ |
| Defining authority | New Zealand Geographic Board |
| Geography | |
 | |
| 1: Matukutūruru, 2: Matukutūreia, 3: Ash Hill, 4: Satellite crater, 5: Puhinui Craters | |
| Location | Wiri, Auckland, New Zealand |
| Geology | |
| Rock age | 30,000 years[1][3] |
| Rock type(s) | Scoria, basalt |
| Volcanic field | Auckland volcanic field |
Created by a series of eruptions around 30,000 years ago, it had a scoria cone reaching approximately 60 metres higher than the surrounding land[1][2]. The lava flows covered around 18 hectares and created the 290 metre long Wiri Lava Cave.
Matukutūruru was the site of a terraced pā occupied by the ancestors of Te Ākitai Waiohua. After European occupation the scoria cone was almost completely quarried away, with the removed material used for construction.
Etymology
Matukutūruru and nearby Matukutūreia are collectively known as Matukurua (also ngā Matukurua) 'The two bitterns'.[5]
The two Te Waiohua pā were attacked in the mid 18th century by Te Taoū.
Matukutūruru is 'The bittern standing at ease'. Named after the chief who fell asleep at the end of an eel fishing expedition, he was defeated and captured by the enemy.[6][7]
In contrast, Matukutūreia is 'The vigilant bittern'. Named after the chief who by his vigilance saved his pā and people.[7]
Other names
It has also been referred to as Te Manurewa o Tamapahore. Manurewa is the name of a nearby residential suburb, which is connected to Matukutūruru through legend: One day two brothers from Matukurua were kite-flying. Tamapahore's kite flew the highest. His brother Tamapahure caused the cord of his kite to break it. The kite drifted toward Hauraki. Hence the name given to Manurewa, from Te Manurewa o Tamapahore (the drifted-away kite of Tamapahore).[7]
During the years the quarry was in operation various names were used, including Wiri Mountain and Wiri Quarry. The chief Te Wirihana Takaanini was well known to early settlers, and his name is commemorated in the name of the suburb Wiri.[8]
After the passing of the 2014 Redress Act the volcano is now officially named Matukutūruru.
Geology
Covering around 18 hectares, Matukutūruru was created through a series of eruptions around 30,000 years ago.[9][3] The initial eruptions produced a crater with surrounding tuff ring. Subsequent fire-fountaining left a scoria cone reaching approximately 90 metres above sea level (60 metres higher than the surrounding land), covering the tuff ring.[1][9] The cone had a single crater on its summit.[1]
The scoria cone has been almost completely quarried away; a small portion of the lower northern slopes is the only part that still exists. The quarrying exposed the complex geology of the site, including a cross section of the tuff ring with overlain lava flows.[9] The southern faces of the northern quarry site exposed a sequence of lava flows formed by jointed basalt and scoria.[10] The Roscommon Road cutting exposed bedded tuff overlain by basaltic lava flow.[9]
Lava flows completely encircled the cone in all directions - with lava up to 18m deep extending 1km to the north and 1.5km to the south.[1][9] Some spread across earlier flows from Matukutūreia.[9] Most have been quarried away, and the land is now covered in industrial buildings. Quarrying of the northern flows left a large pit, which was subsequently filled with spoil from the construction of the City Rail Link tunnels in the 2020s.[9]
Wiri Lava Cave
The flows created a 290 metre long lava cave; extending from near the top of the cone remnants down a short vertical shaft, then diagonally down through a lava-lined tube beneath the scoria slopes and into the solid basalt, continuing horizontally across Wiri Station Road at a depth of approximately 4 metres.[11][12]
It features smooth, gas-flazed rock surfaces, lava stalactites, circular tube gas vents, "festoon" ridging on the floors, vertical shafts formed by hot gas, and contraction gaps at the base of walls.[11][13]
The most interesting parts of the cave are large enough for comfortable walking[12], with relatively easy entrance from the top of the cave.[2][14] A manhole beside Wiri Station Road covers a narrow vertical shaft leading down to the horizontal part of the cave.[12] The entrance is locked and the cave is not open to the public.
Satellite Crater
Late in the eruption sequence a small (100 x 80 metre) explosion crater was formed 0.4km to the southeast.[15] Early aerial photographs show a circular depression with a swampy bottom, but the crater site was flattened and now lies beneath an industrial subdivision.[15]
Nearby Volcanoes
Matukutūruru lies in the middle of a line of three volcanoes in the Auckland volcanic field.
Ash Hill is 900 metres to the northeast. It has a similar age to Matukutūruru, but seems to have erupted slightly earlier and is recognised as a separate volcano.[15] A low tuff cone with an explosion crater about 150 metres wide, it peaked at approximately 8 metres higher than the surrounding land. In recent years it was flattened and is now covered by industrial development.
To the southwest, Matukutūreia peaked at 73 metres above sea level. The scoria cone was originally crescent-shaped, before quarrying reduced to a pyramid-shaped mound. Some of the Matukutūruru lava flows spread across earlier flows from Matukutūreia.[9]
Also nearby, but not on the same line, are the three Puhinui Craters. They are maar structures which could have the same origin, but this is not known to be the case.[15]
History
In pre-European Māori times, the Auckland Volcanic Field became one of the most densely populated areas of New Zealand.[9] The volcanic cone of Matukutūruru was terraced and built upon, becoming a formidable defensive structure. The fertile volcanic soils surrounding the cone were easy to cultivate with wooden tools and were extensively used to grow food such as kūmara and taro.[9] The Manukau Harbour and Puhinui Creek provided food, fresh water, and transport.
Later, European settlers saw a different value in the area. The rock-strewn landscape would have been difficult to cultivate with the plough, but the mountain was seen as a valuable source of building material. Subsequent quarrying activities reduced the mountain to small remnant, with the removed material mainly used to construct railways.
In recent times, coinciding with the end of the quarry's economic life, the area has been built over with industrial subdivisions. A small part of the mountain remains, now protected as a scientific and nature reserve and open to the public.
Māori occupation
Matukutūruru was the site of terraced pā. Around the slopes of the cone an extensive series of terraces were created, used for living, food storage and gardening. On the lower slopes, free-standing earth-and-stone walls were built radiating out from the cone — dividing into roughly wedge-shaped segments which were further subdivided by cross-walls.[2]
Evidence of Māori occupation of the area dates back to the 13th century.[citation needed]
Huakaiwaka was a chief with a pā at Matukutūruru in the 17th century.[citation needed] He is known as the leader who founded Te Waiohua by uniting the tribes living around the Manukau Harbour.
Te Waiohua occupied the area until around 1740 when Te Taoū waged war on Te Waiohua and killed their chief Kiwi Tāmaki, defeating them. They fled to the Waikato. In the 1780s the descendants of Kiwi Tāmaki, Te Ākitai Waiohua, returned and re-established the settlement at Wiri.[citation needed]
The introduction of the musket created a period of great instability in the region. By 1821, with the threat of Ngāpuhi war parties from northland armed with muskets, all volcanic cone pā of Tāmaki Makaurau were virtually abandoned as defensive fortresses.[16] When the first European missionaries passed through the area in 1834 they reported little evidence of occupation by māori.[14]
European occupation
In the 1830s William Fairburn, a missionary with the Church Missionary Society, claimed to have purchased most of South Auckland (83,000 acres, stretching from Papatoetoe to Papakura) from Māori. After the treaty signing in 1840, the purchase was examined by the newly formed Colony of New Zealand. Fairburn was allowed to keep a seventh of the land, with the Crown keeping the "surplus lands", including Matukutūruru.[17]
Matukutūruru was part of a 10,000 acre block granted by the Government to the trader James Reddy Clendon in 1840 — known as the Clendon Grant.[18]
Beginning prior to 1859 the cone which once reached 50m higher than the surrounding land began to be quarried away.[12] By 1859 it was supplying metal for the construction of Great South Road.[19]
Railway ownership
In 1880 Alexander Whyte bought the mountain and land surrounding it. In March 1915, New Zealand Government Railways (NGR) purchased 38 acres of property from the trustees of Alexander Whyte, including the "hill of scoria" and a corridor providing access to the main railway. Shortly after, a further 6 acres immediately to the east was also purchased.[19] NGR and NZ Railways Corporation (NZRC) intermittently operated the quarry on the site.[12] The removed material was mostly used for construction of railways, providing ballast as far south as Ohakune[1]. In later years some was sold.[12]
Jacaranda house
In 1924 a section of the lower northern slope was purchased by Harold Forrest. Unable to service his State Advances loan, this land eventually ended up in the hands of farmer Ernie Shepherd. Around 1928 Jacaranda House (later known as Rumney Cottage) was built. The house was built using basalt and scoria quarried from the volcano and took its name from the large tree beside it. In 1963, the property was bought by the Crown for railway purposes, under the Public Works Act 1928 and Railways Act 1949. Mr Shepherd continued to live in the house until his death in 1972. The house was then leased to various families, and it became known as the quarry manager's house.[20]
Protection of the cave
In 1970 the cave was scheduled for protection as a place of "scientific interest" in the City of Manukau District Scheme. In 1986 the Department of Lands and Survey proposed to acquire the land enclosing the cave for a scientific reserve, but NZRC responded that it intended to maximise quarrying of the available resource.[12] In 1987 the cave was granted interim protection by NZRC.[12] Minister of Conservation Helen Clark (who later became the 37th Prime Minister of New Zealand) indicated that she believed the survival of the cave undamaged was "reasonably well assured".[12]
In 1988 NZRC entered into agreements with Refac Holdings Ltd, intending to "extract and remove" the minerals on the site. On 15 October 1989 the agreements with Refac were cancelled and NZRC then entered into a joint venture agreement with Downer Group to extract the minerals, excluding the cave area. The agreement included guarantees that Downer Group and its contractors would not damage the cave area. NZRC indicated that its intention was to subdivide the land for industrial development after the quarrying was completed.[12]
After nearly 30 years of lobbying, in 1998 the cave site was transferred to the Department of Conservation and gazetted a Scientific Reserve.[11] From 1998 to 2014 it was impossible to obtain permission to access the cave - the department made claims that the active quarrying nearby made it unsafe, that entry required a management plan, or that iwi had not given their formal blessing to allow entry.[11]
Industrial development
In 2008 the remaining land of the former cone (not including the reserve) was transferred to Winstone Aggregates (a subsidiary of Fletcher Building). The government exchanged the two former quarries for the remnants of the stonefields and volcanic cone of Matukutūreia.[21] Fletcher sold the property in 2015 to NZ Cleanfill Limited, later acquired by developer Euroclass.[19]
Since then roads and industrial buildings have filled the now flattened land where the bulk of the volcano once stood.[22]
In late 2011[citation needed] the quarry lake was drained. Water from the site of the northern quarry was pumped into sediment control ponds before being discharged to Puhinui Stream[10], it was then filled with spoil from the construction of the City Rail Link tunnels.[23] Wiri Depot - an extensive maintenance facility for electric trains - has been built on the site of the northern quarry, with the balance being turned into an industrial subdivision.
Treaty settlement
In 2014, the Ngā Mana Whenua o Tāmaki Makaurau Collective Redress Deed passed into law. Through the Treaty of Waitangi settlement between the Crown and the Tāmaki Collective, ownership of Matukutūruru was vested to the collective. The legislation specified that the land be held in trust "for the common benefit of Ngā Mana Whenua o Tāmaki Makaurau and the other people of Auckland". The Tūpuna Maunga Authority (TMA) is the co-governance organisation established. Auckland Council manages the lands under the direction of the TMA. The law gives the volcano the official name Matukutūruru.[24][25][26][27][28]
TMA intends to restore the ecosystem of the remnants; including around 5,400 ferns, karaka, puriri, totara, mahoe, mangeao, puka, kohekohe and titoki to be planted by 2021.[29]