416 Transactions. — Geology. 



{a.) Limestone ( = Oamaru stone). 



(b.) Sandy and marly clays (foraminiferous). 



(c.) Marly greensands (fossiliferous). 



(d.) Grits, conglomerates, and. coal. 



Captain Hutton also includes the Waihao and Waitaki coals 

 in the Pareora series, and this at once raises the question. Is 

 there a Pareora series in South Canterbury or Otago ? On this 

 point there seems to be no very definite information. 



Sir Julius von Haast, in his " Geology of Canterbury and 

 Westland," 1875, page 319, like Captain Hutton, includes the 

 Waihao and Waitaki fossiliferous beds in the Pareora series. 



In 1880 Mr. McKay and the author made a collection of 

 fossils from certain sands and sandy clays at Mount Harris, 

 Waihao, including most of the forms which were at that time 

 believed to be characteristic of the Pareora series, such as 

 CucuUaea aftemcata, Dcntalium soliduni, Dentali^im gigan- 

 teum, Natica solida, Tiirritella gigantca, Dosinia sub-rosea, 

 Pcchmculns laticostatus, and Limopsis zealandica. 



At Elephant Hill these supposed Pareora beds rest on 

 marly greensands, and, as these marly greensands form the 

 cover of the coal, Mr. McKay placed an unconformity be- 

 tween them and the supposed Pareoras — that is, he placed 

 the marly greensands below the Waihao (Oamaru) limestone 

 and the supposed Pareoras above.''' But this course was 

 apparently followed to conform to a theoretical view, since the 

 supposed Pareora beds wherever tiiey occur in this district, or 

 even in North Otago, are always found resting on the coal 

 greensands, and never, so far as my recent investigations go, 

 on the Waihao or Oamaru limestone. 



I agree with Mr. McKay in placing the marly greensands 

 below the Waihoa limestone, but I am of the opinion that the 

 supposed Pareora sands and sandy clays are conformable to 

 and form the upper horizon of the greensands, and that both 

 underlie the Waihao limestone. 



In March of this year Mr. A. Hamilton and the author 

 made a collection of fossils at Wharekuri, in the Waitaki 

 Valley, from certain sands and sandy clays which contained 

 most of the forms supposed to be typical of the Pareora series, 

 besides many corals, mcluding some fine examples of Trocho- 

 cyathus viantclli. It was from these beds that Mr. McKay, in 

 1880 and 1881, collected the remains of Kekenodon onomata. 

 Hector. 



The sandy beds lay conformably on marly greensands, from 

 which we collected a large and beautifully preserved example 

 of Aturia ziczac. The greensands, as pointed out by Mr. 



• Reps. Geol. Expl., 1881, p. G7. 



