Wildlife, fossils & geology (under development)

Foulden Maar Fossils

Foulden Maar, located east of Middlemarch near Smooth Cone, contains fossils from up to 23 million years ago. The maar (lake) had no inflow or outflow, which led to remarkable preservation of fossils embedded in a chalky deposit. Variable bands, clearly visible in the laminated diatomite rock, indicate seasonal patterns of deposition.

In addition to billions of single cell organisms the maar deposits include fossilised flowers with pollen, fish, insects, sponges and leaves from subtropical forests of the past.

Over the years attempts have been made to mine the deposit for cosmetics, fertiliser and animal feed additives.  After protests the Dunedin City Council stopped this activity and is allowing Otago University to resume very small scale extraction for research purposes.

The museum has several fossils of different types and detailed information about this significant geological feature.