392 Transactions. 



In some cases these are founded on an incomplete examination oi tiie 

 district. The sequence is slightly different from that which occurs in other 

 parts of the country. The lower part (the Waipara system of Haast) cor- 

 responds almost exactly with that at the Waipara Gorge, but the upper 

 limestone — the equivalent of the Weka Pass stone of Hutton and the 

 Mount Brown limestone of the Survey — is said by both Hutton and McKay 

 to rest on the lower beds unconformably. The interpretation of the sections 

 is, however, rendered very difficult owing to the disturbance caused by 

 the volcanoes which broke out at the period when the limestones were being 

 laid down, so that this miconformity may be deceptive. In any case, in 

 those parts of the basin where the sequence is little disturbed no midoubted 

 unconformity can be seen. Another miconformity above the limestone has 

 been urged by the same two observers, but there seems to be no necessity 

 for this as well. It camiot be said definitely, however, that none exists, 

 as the beds are much disturbed by faulting, folding, and by volcanic action, 

 and the district can hardly be regarded as a critical one for the elucidation 

 of the Tertiary sequence. It should perhaps be noted that the section 

 given by Hutton of the Hog's Back, which shows an undoubted un- 

 conformity between the Pareora series and the Amuri limestone, is not 

 correct, and is apparently based on unreliable information. 



Curiosity Shop Beds. — This well-known occurrence of the Tertiary series 

 has been thoroughly dealt with by Hector and Hutton. The former, 

 basing his conclusions on the observations and report of McKay, places 

 an unconformity at the base of the equivalents of the Mount Brown series 

 and over a limestone correlated with the Ototara limestone of the Survey. 

 Huttoji, however, maintained that the series was conformable from top 

 to bottom, and after a careful examination of the locality Ave can see no 

 reason whatsoever for the unconformity and agree with Hutton in his 

 interpretation of the section. 



Mdtunau Creek. — This locality is an important one, as it gives a comjjlete 

 sequence from the base of the series, with coal-beds and saurian remains, up 

 to marls which have been classed as Upper Miocene by McKay and Lower 

 Pliocene, by Park. A careful examination of the sections so clearly exposed 

 in the Motunau Creek reveals no unconformity, the dip and strike of the beds 

 being constant from top to bottom, or, if any undetected variations do 

 occur, they can only be very slight, and cannot affect the general conclusion 

 that the sequence is conformable. The only appearance of an unconformity 

 is suggested by the thinning-out of the Amuri limestone (the Weka Pass 

 stone is absent in the section exposed in the creek) on going north, where 

 it is apparently replaced by a calcareous sandstone, which is a natural 

 transition on approaching a shore-line. 



West Coast of South Island. — The coal-series of the west coast of the 

 South Island was tentatively classed in the Cretaceous by Hector, and 

 definitely so by Hutton. There is practically no evidence of the age of 

 these beds, for that given by Haast has never been confirmed.* It appears 

 that, despite the many excellent sections that are exposed, no definite 

 evidence has yet been found of an unconformity. Lately Morgan has laid 

 emphasis on the occurrence of pebbles of coal in a grit.f This he regards 

 as evidence of the elevation and erosion of the coal-series before the upper 



* Haast : Report of a Topograph, and (Jeolog. Explor. of Western Nelson, p. 106. 

 Nelson, 1861. 



t Morgan: Third Aiuuial \{v.\). (Jeol. Surv., 1909, \)\k 12, V.i. 



