VI PREFACE. 



that they were deposited near the shore-line. The molhisca in 

 this formation comprise 120 recent and 25 extinct forms. It 

 is probably the equivalent in time to the shell limestone which 

 skirts the South Australian Bight. 



Lower Miocene. 

 IVc. Pareora Series. — This is also a littoral formation, at 

 the base of the Lower Miocene, and separated from the pre- 

 viously mentioned formation by 1,500 feet of sandy clays. 

 About 55 existing and 110 extinct species of shells are known 

 from this horizon, which corresponds with that of the Portland 

 beds of Western Victoria. 



Upper Eocene. 

 Vb. Oamaru or Hutchison' s Quarry Beds. — Calcareous strata, 

 sometimes pure limestone, composed of shell fragments, corals, 

 and bryozoa, and evidently a shallow-water and littoral deposit, 

 associated with basaltic and tufaceovis rocks, indicating a period 

 of volcanic activity. As I have previously pointed out, these 

 strata are probably the equivalents of the Table Cape beds of 

 Tasmania. 



Lower Eocene. 

 VIb. Ototara Stone. — A calcareous sand^r.one, passing down- 

 wards into true chalk with flints, and overlaid conformably by 

 the " Grey marl," which is a sandy and marly formation, passing 

 at its base into the Eucoidal greensand and Amuri limestone, 

 with Cretaceous fossils. The strata thus grouped represent the 

 Lower Eocene and Upper Cretaceous periods, and have a thick- 

 ness of about 2,000 feet. 



Upper Greensand. 

 YIe. Island Sandstone. — Ferruginous sandstone, that forms 

 the cover of the most important coal-bearing formation in New 

 Zealand. 



The slab figured in the frontispiece by photography was 

 collected by Mr. Alex. McKay, in 1877, from the Phorus beds 



