72 Transactions. 



afterwards the Cretaceous strata in the order to their superposition, we 

 should expect to find the Awatere rocks, as the first exposed to shatter- 

 ing and crumbling, predominating in a stratum towards the base of the 

 great conglomerate. Above this stratum there should appear a succession 

 of layers dominated by blocks of " grey marl," Amuri limestone, and 

 Cretaceous rocks, and in the inverse order of their superposition. But the 

 blocks of the different formations do not occur in this orderly succession : 

 they are mingled in a confused jumble. Clearly this conception also fails. 



It is generally recognized that all great faults are of slow growth. If the 

 growth of the Clarence fault were slow, the denudation of the newly uplifted 

 covering strata would result in the formation of the slopes normal to weak 

 strata, and there would be no dislocation of the established drainage-system. 



The Tertiary strata were laid down on the floor of the sea, and elevated 

 before the process of shattering and denudation began. Surely this uplift 

 and the geographical changes which it brought about must represent a 

 time-break between the post-Miocene conglomerate and the underlying 

 Tertiary strata which figure so conspicuously in its composition. 



I do not know of any natural agency other than ice that could trans- 

 port and leave stranded among fluviatile drifts slab-like masses of soft 

 friable rock ranging from a few feet up to 70 ft. in length ; and I can see 

 nothing unreasonable in my suggestion that high chains like the Kaikouras 

 could support ice-fields during the period of Pleistocene maximum refrigera- 

 tion. I do not suggest that my view is the obvious truth. My contention 

 is that it is a reasonable interpretation of the known facts. The'obvious 

 truth may often resemble a truism, which Carlyle has defined as an invention 

 for concealing the real truth. The uplifted hand may obscure a landscape ; 

 and a simple truth may be presented in such a manner .as to hide a whole 

 gospel. 



Referencbs. 



Cotton, C. A., 1913. The Physiography of the Middle Clarence Valley, New Zealand, 

 Geog. Jour., vol. 42, pp. 225-45. 



1914a. The Relations of the Great Marlborough Conglomerate to the Underlying 



Formation in the Middle Clarence Vallev, New Zealand, Jour. Geol., vol. 22, 



pp. 346-63. 

 1914 b. Preliminary Note on the Uplifted East Coast of Marlborough, Trans. 



N.Z. Inst., vol. 46, pp. 286-94. 

 McKay, A., 1876. Report on Cape Campbell District, Rep. Geol. Explor., 1874-76, 



pp. 185-91. 



1886. On the Geology of the Eastern Part of Marlborough Provincial District. 



Rep. Geol. Explor., No. 17, pp. 27-136, with map. 

 1890a. On the Earthquakes of September, 1888, in the Amuri and Marlborough 



Districts of the South Island, Rep. Geol. Explor., No. 20, pp. 1-16. 

 1890b. On the Geology of Marlborough and the Amuri District of Nelson, ibid., 



pp. 85-185, with col. niap. 



1892. On the Geology of Marlborough and South-east Nelson, Part II, Rep. 



Geol. Explor., No. 21, pp. 1-30, with map. 

 Marshall, P., 1919. Fauna of the Hampden Beds and Classification of the Oamaru 



System, Trans. N.Z. Inst., vol. 51, pp. 226-50. 

 Park, J., 1905. On the Marine Tertiaries of Otago and Canterbury, with Special 



Reference to the Relations existing between the Pareora and Oamaru Series, 



Trans. N.Z. Inst., vol. 37, pp. 489-551. 



1910. Geology of New Zealand. 



Thomson, J. A., 1917. Diastrophic and other Considerations in Classification and 

 Correlation, and the Existence of Minor Diastrophic Districts in the 

 Notocene. Trans. N.Z. Inst, vol. 49, pp. 397-413. 



1919. The Geology of the Middle Clarence and Ure Valleys. East Marlborough. 



"New Zealand, Trans. N.Z. Inst., vol. 51, pp. 289-349. 



Woods, H., 1917. The Cretaceous Faunas of the North-eastern Part of the Soutli 

 Island of New Zealand, N.Z. Geol. Sun: Pal, Bull. No. 4. 



