504 Transactions. — Geology. 



The Pareora series of Captain Hutton contains from 20 to 

 65 per cent, of living molluscs. The Waihao and Kakahu 

 greensands, and the Hampden clays, according to that writer, 

 contain the same fauna as his Pareora series, which he 

 regards as Miocene." 



Sir James Hector and Mr. McKay have always main- 

 tained, and, I think, rightly, that these beds underlie the 

 Waitaki Stone, so that, even disregarding the position of the 

 typical Pareora for the moment, we are compelled to admit 

 that a Miocene fauna exists below the Waitaki Stone. For 

 this reason I think that the Oamaru series must be referred 

 to the Miocene period, having regard for the large proportion 

 of living species which it contains. 



In Europe, where the Tertiary record is complete, it is easy 

 to divide the scale of time into small units each characterized 

 by some peculiar feature of its fauna or flora ; but in New 

 Zealand, where the Eocene is absent, and where the oldest 

 Tertiaries contain a purely local fauna of which from 20 to 30 

 per cent, are still living, it is not possible to refer the beds 

 with any degree of accuracy to the finer divisions recognised 

 in the Northern Hemisphere. 



Kelations of Oamaru Series to Lower Tertiary Beds 



in the North Island. 



I will deal first with the marine Tertiaries in the Waite- 

 mata district of Auckland. 



The pectens which distinguish the Mount Brown or 

 Hutchinson Quarry horizon of the Oamaru series are also 

 characteristic of the middle division of the Waitemata beds 

 near Auckland, which yielded a number of the types originally 

 described by Zittel. 



Among the forms common to the middle division of the 

 Oamaru formation and the Waitemata beds are Pectcn fischeri, 

 P. vellicatus, P. yolymorplioides , P. williamsoni, Pseudamus- 

 sium huttoni, and Amussium zitteli. A large number of the 

 corals, bryzoans, and Foramiuifera found in the Orakei Bay 

 beds are also present in the lower limestone at Kakanui and 

 Teschemaker's, commonly associated with the pectens enume- 

 rated above. On the other hand, the brachiopods, which are 

 so plentiful at Kakanui, Hutchinson Quarry, Waitaki Valley, 

 Mount Brown, and some parts of Mount Donald, are practically 

 absent from the Waitematas. This, however, can hardly be 

 regarded as surprising in places so widely separated. Even in 

 the Oamaru and Waipara districts the brachiopods are by no 

 means evenly distributed in the same bed, but mostly occur in 

 colonies, often comprising a vast number of individuals. 



* Luc. cit., p. 171. 



