Speight. — Lower Waipara Gorgt. 233 



that there is no stratigraphical break between the base of the Mount Brown 

 beds and the top of the Greta beds.* 



The circumstances are also favourable to the position maintained b}- 

 Marshall, Speight, and Cotton in the paper on the Tertiary series pub- 

 lished in last year's " Transactions of the New Zealand Institute " — that 

 there is no stratigraphical break in North Canterbury between beds at 

 the base of the Waipara system characterized by the presence of saurian 

 remains, Belemnites, Conchothyra parasitica, and various species of Tri- 

 gonia, and beds which have a fauna which must be assigned to the Miocene 

 or even the Lower Pliocene period. This statement does not, however, 

 negative the existence of a palaeontological break. 



Conclusion. 



For the purpose of aiding people who wish to examine this interesting 

 locality, I make the following suggestions as to the means of visiting it. 

 The lower portion of the gorge is best worked from Amberley, which is 

 distant about three miles, with a good road suitable for driving or bicycle. 

 The upper part can be reached most conveniently from Waipara, whence 

 a walk or ride of about two miles will bring one on to the upper entrance 

 to the gorge. If time is limited, and only one day is available for the 

 visit, the Glasnevin Railway-station affords the shortest and readiest access 

 to the middle part of the gorge. There is a good road leading from this 

 station to within a short distance of the place where abundant fossils are 

 to be found. At either Amberley or Waipara there are hotels at which 

 accommodation can be obtained. 



Explanation of Plates. 



In considering the map and section accompanying this paper it must 

 be noted that recent alluvial and marine deposits have not been marked. 

 It was found impossible to do this accurately without examining almost 

 every acre of the country; only the underlying solid beds are, therefore, 

 represented. 



* In Trans. N.Z. Inst., vol. 37, 1905, p. 538, Park says, " The Motunau beds lie on 

 a denuded surface of the Mount Brown beds, and the section is so clear that no doubt 

 can be entertained as to the unconformable relations of the two formations " ; but in a 

 recent paper published in the "Geological Magazine" (5th December, vol. 8, p. 548) he 

 admits the physical conformity of the Mount Brown and Motunau beds. His exact 

 words are, " The unconformity which I thought I recognized at Waipara between the 

 Mount Brown and Motunau beds may not exist, or, if it does, it may be purely local. 

 In my classification of the Jamger formations adopted in my ' Geology of New Zealand ' 

 I have recognized only one physical break fin the Tertiary succession] — namely, one 

 between the Oamaru and Waipara series. Nothing I have seen since the publication of 

 that work has led me to alter the opinion I then expressed." The author is therefore 

 glad to know that his position as to the conformity of the Motunau and Mount Brown 

 beds is quite in agreement with the most recently expressed opinion of Professor Park 

 on a somewhat important point in our Tertiary stratigraphy. 



