394 Transactions. — Geology. 



rest .on the blue-clay marls, which were ouce overtopped by 

 limestones. 



Along the banks of the Manawatu Eiver, which passes 

 down the valley two miles or so to the eastward of Danne- 

 virke, there are exposures of these blue Younger Tertiary beds 

 similar to what are seen in the Tukituki, just above the cross- 

 ing between the Ongaonga and Ashcott, and also at the Kid- 

 nappers, immediately above the limestones, at the place 

 known as the Black Eeef. In several places a little further 

 to the eastward of the river the limestones are seen similar to 

 those at Heretauuga and at Ashcott, between the Tukituki 

 and Tukipo Eivers. This, it seems to me, is important, 

 because it connects all the limestones on the western flank of 

 the Cretaceo-tertiary rocks into one great and continuous 

 whole. These limestones are met with as outliers in a 

 number of places flanking the Euahine Mountain between 

 Woodville and Kereru. The Mangatoro Stream, near to what 

 is known as Hamilton's Homestead, appears to separate the 

 younger from the older blue-clay marls. The latter marls are 

 similar to those exposed in the cliffs between Waikare and 

 Wairoa, but the fossils are too fragile to make a satisfactory 

 collection. Between the younger and older series of blue-clay 

 marls a calcareous sandstone is met with in places, which 

 passes sometimes into limestone of fairly compact texture. 



The limestone is finely exposed in a scarp some six miles or 

 so beyond the Mangatoro Stream, and, as there is no stone 

 suitable for road-metal between this place and Weber, or, in- 

 deed, between here and Wimbledon, no doubt it will be largely 

 used for road purposes in the near future. This limestone is 

 similar to that found in the gorge of the Tukituki Eiver, on 

 the side towards Waipukurau, and the same fossils, T. angu- 

 lave and 0. ingcns, are common to both. The limestone 

 found in the Wanstead Gorge appears to belong to the same 

 series, and as an impure sandy calcareous deposit it is seen to 

 pass between the two clay-marls midway between Patangata 

 and Tamumu, on the right bank of the Tukituki Eiver. The 

 hills, which are topped by the limestone scarp, form the 

 dividing-range between the east coast and the Manawatu 

 basin, and from this place there are no rocks younger than 

 these, which are, in reality, the youngest of the Puketoi rocks 

 exposed in this direction. Proceeding further towards the 

 coast the blue clays, wherever exposed on the roadside, are 

 somewhat indurated, but they seem to be acted upon by strains- 

 at right-angles to the pressure, and they break from the rock 

 in sheets with a kind of conchoidal fracture. These rocks 

 have a great tendency to move glacier-like into the valleys ; 

 and the whole country can be read in the peculiar appear- 

 ance presented by the moving masses towards the streams. 



