Lake Waitamoumou is a small

dune A dune is a landform composed of wind- or water-driven sand. It typically takes the form of a mound, ridge, or hill. An area with dunes is called a dune system or a dune complex. A large dune complex is called a dune field, while broad, f ...

-dammed lake a kilometre north of Raglan in the

Waikato Waikato () is a Regions of New Zealand, local government region of the upper North Island of New Zealand. It covers the Waikato District, Waipa District, Matamata-Piako District, South Waikato District and Hamilton, New Zealand, Hamilton City ...

region of New Zealand.

Geology

Brown

clay Clay is a type of fine-grained natural soil material containing clay minerals (hydrous aluminium phyllosilicates, e.g. kaolin, Al2 Si2 O5( OH)4). Clays develop plasticity when wet, due to a molecular film of water surrounding the clay par ...

underlies the dunes, which limits the rate of

seepage Soil mechanics is a branch of soil physics and applied mechanics that describes the behavior of soils. It differs from fluid mechanics and solid mechanics in the sense that soils consist of a heterogeneous mixture of fluids (usually air and wat ...

through the dunes, thus forming lakes where dune advance has blocked valleys. The lake bed and stream are on Awhitu sands. They are about a million years old and made up of

pumice Pumice (), called pumicite in its powdered or dust form, is a volcanic rock that consists of highly vesicular rough-textured volcanic glass, which may or may not contain crystals. It is typically light-colored. Scoria is another vesicular vol ...

ous cross bedded brown and yellow clayey sands. The lake is dammed by dunes of Nukumiti Sands which have formed in the last 800 years.Geology of the Raglan-Kawhia Area: Institute of Geological & Nuclear Sciences (N.Z.), Barry Clayton Waterhouse, P. J. White 1994

Biota

It seems no detailed survey has been done of the lake. As cattle often walk in the lake, it is likely to be polluted. In the 1970s the dunes between the lake and the harbour were sown with tree lupin (

Lupinus arboreus ''Lupinus arboreus'', the yellow bush lupine (US) or tree lupin (UK), is a species of flowering plant in the legume family Fabaceae. Description ''Lupinus arboreus'' is an evergreen shrub growing to tall (hence the alternative common name, tree ...

) and Marram Grass, which has reduced sand movement and provided a low quality pasture.

Frogs A frog is any member of a diverse and largely carnivorous group of short-bodied, tailless amphibians composing the order Anura (ανοὐρά, literally ''without tail'' in Ancient Greek). The oldest fossil "proto-frog" ''Triadobatrachus'' is ...

can be heard croaking in the lake. The pompilid wasp ( Cryptocheilus australis) and its prey, the nursery web spider (

Dolomedes minor ''Dolomedes minor'' is a spider in the family Pisauridae that is endemic to New Zealand, where it is known as the nursery web spider. Identification ''Dolomedes minor'' is pale brown with some being grayish, like the rocks around which they ...

), have been seen near the lake.

History

Remains of stone tools and other artefacts show that this area was heavily populated in pre-Colonial times. Raglan Museum has a collection of these Ngāti Taahinga artefacts, with an exhibition of some 2,000 items opened in 2015. Some of the stones are thought to have come from

D'Urville Island D'Urville Island (), Māori language, Māori name ' ('red heavens look to the south'), is an island in the Marlborough Sounds along the northern coast of the South Island of New Zealand. It was named after the France, French List of explorers, ...

Mayor Island / Tuhua In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a Municipal corporation, municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilities ...

and

Whakaari/White Island Whakaari / White Island (, mi, Te Puia Whakaari, lit. "the dramatic volcano"), also known as White Island or Whakaari, is an active andesite stratovolcano situated from the east coast of the North Island of New Zealand, in the Bay of Plent ...

, confirming significant trading in pre-colonial times. The archaeology map records some 30 sites nearby. The county history says, "On the 25th of May 1850, the chief of the

Ngāti Mahuta Ngāti Mahuta is a sub-tribe (or hapū) of the Waikato tribe (or iwi) of Māori in the North Island of New Zealand. The territory (rohe) of Ngāti Mahuta is the Kawhia and Huntly areas of the Waikato region. History Ngāti Mahuta is descended f ...

hapu concerned, ceded to the Crown, the land known as Te Horea. . . In 1874 the whole of Te Akau, with the exception of certain native reserves, was leased to

John Studholme John Studholme (1829–1903) was a 19th-century British pioneer of New Zealand, farmer and politician in the Canterbury region of New Zealand.Mosley, vol.3 p. 2803 Early life John Studholme was born in 1829 the son of John Studholme, a landowner ...

, of Canterbury, for a term of 30 years. Soon the smoke from extensive fires marked further Pakeha inroads into the native forests of the island." His 90,000 acre lease lasted until the early 1890s, when the

New Zealand Loan and Mercantile Agency Company The New Zealand Loan and Mercantile Agency Company provided investments and loans for trade and commerce in New Zealand and Australia. Notable people * James Beard, the 1889 New Zealand Loan and Mercantile Building architect * John Logan Camp ...

took it on. It was known as Darrow's Station when he was manager, but the Liberal land reforms resulted in the break up of Te Akau Station in 1911, after which much more of the native forest was felled and burnt.Off the Sheep's Back: Bill Richards Lindon Pub., 1986 , 9780864700148

References

External links

* 1:50,000 map - http://www.topomap.co.nz/NZTopoMap/nz53383/Lake-Waitamoumou/Waikato * 1910 photos of the lake - http://natlib.govt.nz/records/23018283 and http://natlib.govt.nz/records/22854107 {{DEFAULTSORT:Waitamoumou, Lake Waikato District Lakes of Waikato Raglan, New Zealand

Geology

Biota

History

See also

References

External links