346 Transactions. 



cut oli by a fault somewhat in the manner shown in the following sketch " 

 (the section above referred to). It is quite possible, therefore, that here 

 also the " grey marls " are present. In the Kekerangu River McKa^- and 

 Hector n^present the conglomerate as resting with mai'ked unconformity 

 on a surface of jue-Xotocene rocks, but JMcKay remarks that " from the 

 abs«>nce of Amuri limestone and Awatere rocks the evidence that these 

 I conglomerates] are identical with those in Heaver's Creek is not (jiute 

 conclusive." I observed three bands of conglomerates in going down the 

 Kekerangu Gorge. The first two resemble the pebbly mudstone of the 

 Clarentian, the tliird and thicker band resembled more the great Jlarl- 

 borough congknnerate. but appeared to be faulted down anions the j)re- 

 Notocene rocks. The relations of the outcro}) near Take Grassmere are 

 not ;it all well known. In searching for it in 1912 T ascertained that part 

 of the ar(^a ma])|)ed by McKay as great ilarlborough conglomerate is in 

 reality occupied by the basal Clarentian (?) conglomerates of the Notocene 

 series forming the hills to the eastward from The Rocks to bevond Ward, 

 so that the great Marlborough conglomerate may in this locality form a 

 narrow strip interposed between the Awatere beds and the Clarentian (?) 

 rocks. It appears probable that it is here involved along the fault-line 

 which se])arates tlie Awatere and T'retaceous rocks between Ward and 

 The Rocks. In all the other known outcro])S of the great Marlborough 

 conglomerate on the coast near Kekerangu. in Hea\er's Creek, and in 

 Deadman's Hill and Deadman"s Creek it is resting on the " grev marls," 

 as it does in the Clarence Valley. This is very significant, because the 

 " grey marls " form a very weak stratum and are now almost evervwhere 

 deej)ly eroded compared to the neighbouring .4muri limestone and pre- 

 Notocene rocks. If the great Marlboi'ough conglomerate were so much 

 younger than the "' grey marls,"' as McKay supposed, and the latter were 

 emergent during a considerable part of the Tertiaiy, one would expect to 

 find the conglomerate at least as frequently on the Weka Pass stone or 

 Amu]-i liniestone as on the " grey marls." T am disposed, thert^fore, to 

 accept the conformity of the conglomerate with the " grey marls "' not only 

 in the Clarence Valley but in the coastal area near Kekerangu. This 

 invoh'es the ascription to it of an age similar to that of the Mount Brown 

 beds in North Canterbury, which follow the " grey marls "' conformably 

 — i.e., Upt)er Oamaruian. 



The relationship of the great Marlborouoh conglomerate to the Awatere 

 series thus becomes of interest. The upper Awatere beds near Beddon 

 are Waitotaran, but the lower beds in Tachall's Creek, near Ward, contain 

 Oamaruian molluscs, and are probably at least as old as Awamoan. The 

 junction of these lower beds with the Clarentian of the hills north of the 

 Ure River coidd not be observed, and, as no conglomerates were seen, it is 

 possibly faulted. In the Awatere River, near the Jordan accommodation- 

 house, th(^ basal Awatere beds consist of conglomerates and sandstones, 

 and rest with marked imcouforinity on the ])re-Notocene rocks, while all 

 the pebbles in the conglomerates are of ])re-Notocene rocks. In the lower 

 beds in the Medway River Mr. L. J. Wild collected species of Cucullaea, so 

 that these, too appear to be Up})er Oamaruian. The Awatere beds appear 

 to be repeated with exactlv similar relationships in the blue clif?s forming 

 the noj-tli-west corner of Palliser Bay. There is a thin basal cojigiomerate 

 resting unconformably on an unweathered surface of greywackes and 

 aroillites. The succeeding miidstones contain an Oamaruian fauna, while 

 the liio'her miidstones near the Riiamnhano-a River contain a Waitotaran 



