III. — GEOLOGY. 



Abt. XLIV.— Ow the. Bclative Agra of the. New Zealand 



Coalfields. 



By Professor F. W. Huttox. 



\_Bcad before the Philosophical Institute of Cavterbnnj. 3rd October, 1889. 



In the Hokonui Hills, Southland, in the country between the 

 mouths of the Mataura and Clutha Rivers, and on the west 

 coast of the North Island south of Port Waikato, thin seams 

 of coal are found which are acknowledged to be of Jurassic 

 age. Also, there are at Lovell's Flat, in Otago ; round the 

 Manukau Harbour, near Auckland ; at the north head of the 

 Kaipara, and in many other places, beds of lignite ni which 

 vegetable structure is often recognizable by the naked eye ; 

 and these are allowed to be Pliocene or later. Between these 

 dates lie all the valuable coalfields of New Zealand, and the 

 question whether they do or do not belong to a single geologi- 

 cal period is one whicli has been discussed for a (quarter of a 

 century without leading to a general agreement. The Geo- 

 logical Survey holds that all these coalfields belong to its 

 Cretaceo-tertiary period ; while the late Dr. von Hochstetter,''' 

 Sir Julius von Haast, ! and myself have maintained the 

 opinion that there are two or moi-e coal-formations in New- 

 Zealand. The discovery of Lower Cretaceo-tertiary fossils in 

 the northern part of the colony, and the reports of Messrs. 

 Park and McKay on tlie localities, have added a new 

 interest to the question ; and Mr. McKay has lately given 

 an able and very fair summary of the views held by 

 the Geological Survey Department. He is, however, in 

 my opinion, mistaken in identifying the hydraulic lime- 

 stone of the north with the Amuri limestone of the 

 south ; and, if this be so, his argument for the equivalence 

 of the northern and southern coalfields altogether breaks 

 down. Before giving my reasons for this opinion I wish, as 

 the subject is one of great economic importance and likel\- 



* " Geology of New Zealand," 1867, pp. 58 and 59. 

 t " On the Character and Age of the Now Zealand Coalficld.s," Hep. 

 Brit. .Association, 1886, p. CA'S. 



