Park. — Marine Tertiaries of Otugn and Canterbury . 491 



the Kakahu, Pareora Kiver, Waihao Forks, Awamoa, and 

 Hampden beds, all of which, he contends, contain a closely 

 related fauna, of which some 37 "5 per cent, are living spe- 

 cies. ::: The Pareora series of the Geological Survey embraces 

 the Greta, Pareora Eiver, Mount. Harris, and Awamoa beds ; 

 but excludes the Kakahu, Waihao Forks, and Hampden beds, 

 which are placed below the Oamaru stone. 



The present position is therefore as follows : According to 

 Captain Hutton all the beds which contain the characteristic 

 Pareora fauna are of Lower Miocene age, and are believed by 

 him to overlie the Oamaru stone, often unconformably.-f 

 According to the Geological Survey the Pai'eora and Awamoa 

 beds are believed to be of Lower Miocene age, and to overlie 

 the Oamaru stone unconformably ; while the Kakahu, Wai- 

 hao Forks, Black Point, and Hampden beds, also containing 

 a Pareora fauna, are admitted to underlie the Oamaru stone 

 conformably. 



General Conclusions. 



(1.) That there are two limestones in the Oamaru series 

 where the sequence is complete, separated by the Hutchinson 

 Quarry beds and its associates. The upper limestone is a 

 yellowish-brown calcareous sandstone characterized by such 

 fossils as Meoma craivfordi, Cirsotrema broioni, and Pseud- 

 amussmm huttoni. It is the closing member of the series in 

 Otago, Canterbury, and throughout the North Island. The 

 lower limestone is the well-known Oamaru building-stone, 

 typically developed in the Oamaru district. It is absent in 

 South Otago, Waitaki Valley, Waihao. and Kakahu, but is 

 represented by limestones in the Trelissic basin and Waipara 

 district. A consideration of its distribution in the Oamaru 

 district shows that it gradually decreases in thickness towards 

 the west, dwindling to nothing long before the old shore- line 

 is reached. In other words, it is a deposit formed in com- 

 paratively deep, clear water. For the upper limestone I 

 propose to use the name Waitaki Stone, and for the lower 

 Oamaru Stone. The Geological Survey and Captain Hutton, 

 recognising only one limestone in the Oamaru district, have 

 applied the name Oamaru or Ototara Stone indifferently to 

 both the upper and lower limestones, which has naturally led 

 to a good deal of confusion with respect to the relations of 

 the Hutchinson Quarry and associated beds to the Waitaki 

 Stone. Of the geologists who have examined North Otago, 

 Mr. McKay was the only one to recognise two limestones. His 

 view is that the Oamaru building-stone is the closing member 

 of the Oamaru series, and that the Waitaki Stone and under - 



* Hutton, " Geology of Otago," 1875, p. 58. 



f Hutton, Trans. N.Z. Inst., vol. xxxii., 1899, p. 171. 



