Miocene petrified wood and associated borings and termite faecal pellets from Hukatere Peninsula, Kaipara Harbour, North Auckland, New Zealand

Lower Miocene silicified woods from south-east Coates Bay, Hukatere Peninsula, Kaipara Harbour, nor-them New Zealand, were studied using thin sections and scanning electron microscope micrographs. Woods resembling Avicennia, Nothofagus, Leptospermum, Vitex, Quintinia, Eucalyptus, Dacrydium, and other gymnosperms are described. Pyroclastic flows carried woods from a podocarp-broadleaved forest to mix with Avicennia (mangrove) growing in estuarine conditions close to the site of preservation. The wood was probably alive or recently dead when overwhelmed by a pyroclastic flow. Fossil termite faecal pellets are recorded from borings in Avicennia sp. The hexagonal silicified pellets are similar to those formed by the extant New Zealand dry wood termite Kalotermes brouni. Four other types of borings in the wood and traces of fungal breakdown are described.