The ecological significance of the central North Island ash showers: The soil pattern

[First paragraph(s)...]
The volcanic ash showers of the central North Island have not been the object of separate detailed study since 1931 (Grange, 1931) until the present detailed work of I. L. Baumgart in the area north and east of Taupo. The data presented in this paper have been gathered in the course of soil survey reconnaissance work, and many of the groupings must be regarded as tentative. Ash has been spread over North Island as recognizable deposits from near Feilding and Napier in the south to near Auckland in the north, and at one time or another must have given rise to the soil over the greater part of the Island. The former extent of the showers is perhaps least understood in the southern districts.