342 Transactions. 



9 



Doctor's Gorge, Waipara River. — According to von Haast's account 

 (1871), the coal-beds are 150 ft. thick, and consist of rusty-coloured loose 

 sands, with some harder bands of limonitic sandstone, followed by white 

 quartz sands, and enclosing several seams of very inferior lignite and shales, 

 the former from 9 in. to 2^ ft. thick. These in turn are followed by angular, 

 loose, quartzose sands, covered frequently with an efflorescence of sulphur, 

 and not showing any stratification. They strike north and south, Avith 

 an easterly dip of 33°, and rest on pre-Notocene rocks, which dip about 

 70° north-north-east. It appears that von Haast must have based the 

 above description on beds some distance each side of the gorge, for on the 

 river-banks the total thickness under the Ostrea bed does not exceed 40 ft. 

 Park's account (1888) closely follows von Haast's, but in addition he 

 records the presence of distinct plant-impressions from the shales — viz., 

 Fagus Ninnisiana, Phyllites eucalyptoides , Griselinia myrtifolium, and a 

 fragment of Coriaria {Cinnamomum ?). 



The succeeding Ostrea bed is about 20 ft. thick, and really consists of 

 two or three shell-beds with sandy layers between. In places it consists 

 chiefly of shells of Ostrea, in others of Pugnellus, and in others again of 

 both of these, while there are a lesser number of other species of pelecypod. 

 The upper part of the upper shell-bed is locally cemented by a calcareous 

 cement in the shape of large poecilitic plates of calcite, and contains a few 

 grains of glauconite and feldspar, in addition to the quartz of which it 

 mainly consists. This is presumably the rock referred to by McKay (1877b) 

 as " glance sandstone." The moUusca collected at this locality bv McKay 

 (1891) were determined by Woods (1917) as Trigonia hanetiana d'Orbigny, 

 Ostrea sp. cf. dichotoma Bayle, and Pecten {Camptonectes) hectori Woods. 

 In addition a species of Cardiuni is common, but does not appear to have 

 been forwarded to Mr. Woods. Trechmann (1917) collected and described 

 Pugnellus waiparensis. 



Bobijs Creek. — In Boby's Creek and its tributaries there are numerous 

 sections of these beds, as they wrap round several inliers of the pre-Notocene. 

 rocks. I have not explored the area fully, and remain undecided whether 

 or not there are two Ostrea beds represented. Where first seen, on going 

 up Boby's Creek, the Ostrea bed is only about 2 ft. thick, anjl dips down- 

 stream. It rapidly thickens, as it rises on the sides of the cliffs up-stream, 

 to about 6 ft., and is underlain by grey sands with a few carbonaceous streaks 

 and many ironstone partings, and with occasional yellow efflorescence. 

 After about 100 ft. these sands pass down into a lignitic series of interbedded 

 carbonaceous shales and grey sands, also of considerable thickness. The 

 section then becomes obscure for some distance. An Ostrea bed again 

 reappears at the waterfall, but the beds below it have not been studied. In 

 Bell's Creek, between the two gorges of pre-Notocene rocks, there is a lignite- 

 seam which has been worked by former occupants of Onepunga Farm. 



Von Haast (1871) describes the beds in Boby's Creek as rusty-coloured 

 loose sands, similar to those in the Waipara River, followed by several 

 seams of lignite and shale, about 10 ft. in thickness, some of them of better 

 quality than those of the Waipara River. These- in turn are followed by 

 angular white quartzose sands, succeeded by the Ostrea bed. At the water- 

 fall this consists mostly of complete specimens of the large Ostrea, but in 

 other places- the shells are more fragmentary, and in places the bed is 

 replaced by calcareous sands. 



The fossils determined by Woods from the Ostrea bed of Boby's Creek 

 were " Area " hectori Woods, Trigonia hanetiana d'Orb., and Ostrea sp. cf. 

 dichotoma Bayle. In addition I obtained Cuadlaea sp., Cardiuni sp., and 

 Pugnellus waiparensis Trechmann (?). 



