The Kepler Mire, or Dismal Swamp east of Lake Manapouri

Lake Manapouri

Lake Manapouri is a lake in the South Island of New Zealand. Its name is Maori for "sorrowful heart", though this name is misapplied due to an early cartographical error...

, is the largest wetland in the Te Anau

Te Anau

Te Anau is a town in the South Island of New Zealand. It is on the eastern shore of Lake Te Anau in Fiordland. Lake Te Anau is the largest lake in the South Island and second only within New Zealand to Lake Taupo. The 2001 census recorded the town's population as 1,857...

 basin complex in New Zealand, covering more than 900 ha (altitude 220–230 m). Like the neighbouring mountain range, it is named in honour of astronomer Johannes Kepler

Johannes Kepler

Johannes Kepler was a German mathematician, astronomer and astrologer. A key figure in the 17th century scientific revolution, he is best known for his eponymous laws of planetary motion, codified by later astronomers, based on his works Astronomia nova, Harmonices Mundi, and Epitome of Copernican...

.

Its dome is about three metres higher at the centre than at the margins. The peat development reaches depths of up to 4.7 m. The total volume of peat in this mire is estimated at 20.5 million cubic metres.

The Kepler Mire is internationally biologically significant because it is the most extensive pool system of the string bog

String bog

A String bog or Strong mire is a bog consisting of slightly elevated ridges and islands, with woody plants, alternating with flat, wet sedge mat areas. String bogs occur on slightly sloping surfaces, with the ridges at right angles to the direction of water flow...

 form found in New Zealand.

The best public viewing is from the Mount York Road, some 2 km from the Highway 95 intersection.

In popular culture

The Mire was filmed by helicopter for the Peter Jackson

Peter Jackson

Sir Peter Robert Jackson, KNZM is a New Zealand film director, producer, actor, and screenwriter, known for his The Lord of the Rings film trilogy , adapted from the novel by J. R. R...

 film The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers, in which it was used to portray the Dagorlad Battlefield or Dead Marshes

Dead Marshes

The Dead Marshes is a fictional place from J. R. R. Tolkien's universe, Middle-earth.-Literature:Once a part of the ancient battlefield of Dagorlad, the Dead Marshes lie north-west of the Morannon, the principal entrance to Mordor...

.