president's address — SECTION c. 95 



mollusis found here, only one is a modem type. Morgan (1918) 

 considers theoe beda to be ooeval with the Wanga.oa, Hampden, 

 or Weka Pass beds. This formation is unconformab'y overlain 

 by a second basal conglomerate with extensive seams of brown 

 coal transgressing on to the older rocks. Tuese are followed by 

 sandstones, limestone, and marls with 23 per cent, of recent 

 species out of a total of about fifty icrms, which are similar to 

 these in the Oamaru beds. The succecsion foims a comp.ete cycle 

 of sodimentation, sandstone, claystone, limestone, and deltaic sand- 

 stone (Morgan, 1915, pp. 71-93). A rather marked faunal dif- 

 ference is noticeable between the beds above and below the lime- 

 stone, though with but little variations in the percentage of recent 

 forms (Henderson, 1917, pp. 79-99); a point of interest is tha 

 occurrence in the limestone of a boine recognised by Huxley (1859) 

 as belonging to a giant penguin. The series continues into 

 North Westland and south-west Nelson, where it is marked by 

 great irregularity in thickners and frequent overlaps. In the 

 Giouland Downs, e.g.. Cotton (1916) found the limestone resting 

 direct y on the granite. The marine Tertiary series of the Col- 

 lingwood, (Bell 1907) and Nelson (Marchall 1911) districts, 

 which also have a basal series of coal measures are comparable 

 with the upper portion of the Oamaru Series. 



It will be convenient, in describing the Notccene rocks of the 

 North Island, to coimmence with those of the Auckland Province, 

 in the neighbourhood of Kaipara and Whangarei. Here the suc- 

 cesLiicn IS uoscured by much dislocation and discontinuity of out- 

 crop. The oldest Notccene beds are probably Senouian Inoceramus^ 

 and obscure ammonites were fcuud at Whangaroa (Eell and 

 Clarke, 1909), and in his preliminary announcement (1918) 

 Marshall notes the occurrence at Kaipara of two species of Koss- 

 ni'Jticeras, one of Lytoceras, Inoceramus, and other f^rms. He 

 has since obtained a number of forms showing marked resemblance 

 to members of the Senonian fauna of Seymour is.and (Grahams- 

 land)* described by Wilckens (1904). Saurian remains also occur 

 in a greenish mud^tone. Apparently the e beas are folL'wed by a 

 hydraulic Globiyerina limestone, like that of Amuri E'luff, and 

 correlated therewith, and this again is succeeded by tuffaceous 

 sands with foraminifera and an abundant moliuscan fauna, of 

 which 20 per cent, of the species are recent. (Marshal', 1918.) 

 Authorities differ as to the conformity or unconformity of these 

 rocks upon the Cretaceous beds, and little decisive field-evidence 

 is yet available. According to Thomson C19'?0, p. 385), t^ese 

 tuffaceous sands are followed by a polyzoan limestone of O^maruian 

 character, which, being faulted down among the Cretaceous roks 

 of Kaipara, has increased the difficulty of the iriteroretatirn of 

 the faunal and stratigraphical succession in that district. Ferrar 



* Private communication. 



