Uttlet. — Tertiary Geology, Otiake River to Duntroon. 141 



Hector, in 1865, classified the Waitaki arenaceous rocks as Lower 

 IMiocene, and the Oamaru rocks as Upper Miccene. In 1870 he considered 

 the Oamaru rocks to be Older Tertiary, and those of the Waitaki Valley 

 Middle Tertiary. In 1877 he placed the coal-grits, sandstones, and over- 

 lying limestones at Maruwenua in his Cretaceo-Tertiary system. In 1882 

 he considered the Otekaike limestone to be of Tertiary age, and at a higher 

 horizon than the Maruwenua limestone (Cretaceo-Tertiary). 



Hutton (1875, p. 46), after examining a collection of fossils from 

 Otekaike, classed them as Upper Miocene (Pareoran or Awamoan), and 

 (1875, p. 89) considered that the Tertiary rocks at Wharekuri occupied a 

 depression "hollowed out by an Eocene glacier." The brown coal at 

 Wharekuri was said to be Eocene. McKay (1877) reported on the geology 

 of the Oamaru and Waitaki districts, and referred the Maruwenua lime- 

 stone and the overl3dng fossiliferous horizon (" Phorus beds ") to the 

 Cretaceo - Tertiary system, and stated that the " equivalent beds of 

 Hutchinson's Quarry, Oamaru, and even higher beds, assume the character 

 of a calcareous sa^^Jstone at Otekaike, and at Big Gully (Wharekuri) of 

 a tufaceous greensand." In the same report (1877, p. 58) he declared 

 the impossibility of separating the Awamoan, either stratigraphically or 

 otherwise, from the Hutchinsonian. In a later report (1882a) he described 

 the Waitaki Valley more fully, and stated that the Tertiary rocks, 

 comprising limestones and calcareous greensands of Upper Eocene age, 

 rest indifferently on various members of the Cretaceo - Tertiary series. 

 Certain sandstone gravels, often steeply tilted, were classed as Upper 

 Pareoran (Awamoan), and the coal at Wharekuri was referred to this 

 horizon. The Hutchinson Quarry beds at Wharekuri were said to rest 

 conformably on the Otekaike limestone, which was classed as a Tertiary 

 rock, quite distinct from the Maruwenua limestone of Cretaceo-Tertiary 

 age. The " sandy beds with cement concretions " {"Phorus beds ") above 

 the limestone at Maruwenua were referred to the horizon of the " grey 

 marls " of Cretaceo-Tertiary age, although the fossils " resemble those 

 from Hutchinson's Quarry and the Otekaike limestone more than those 

 of the ' grey marls.' " The Wharekuri greensands were said to be overlain 

 unconformably by the " Kekenodon greensands " (a Tertiary rock), and 

 to belong to the Cretaceo-Tertiary system. The fossiliferous beds that 

 overlie the coal-rocks at Black Point were said to be at the same horizon 

 as the island sandstone. The heavy angular gravels, containing boulders 

 with Triassic and Permian fossils, were considered to be of glacial origin, 

 the glaciers having taken their rise in the surrounding mountains. McKay 

 collected fossils from Station Peak, opposite Otekaike, and stated that 

 in the section exposed there " the Hutchinson's Quarry beds do not 

 present their usual characters, and must be considered as merged in the 

 Otekaike limestone." Again, referring to the same section, he affirmed 

 that " the oldest beds seen are limestones as pure as, though less fossiliferous 

 than, the higher part." In this locality and at Otekaike McKay considered 

 that the limestone rests directly on the subschistose rocks. 



In a later report (1882b) McKay still maintained that the coal-beds 

 were of Pareora age, but that quartz sands and fireclays of Eocene age, 

 similar to the rocks usually associated with the coal-seams, lay beneath 

 the " Kekenodon greensands," of Eocene age. The Maruwenua limestone 

 was now considered to consist of three distinct rocks. The upper part 

 (the " Phorifs beds," of Upper Cretaceo-Tertiary age of his former reports) 

 was referred to the Hutchinson Quarry horizon, the middle part was 



