KEPORTS OF KESEARCH COMMITTEES. 303 



in the situation in which it now lies without introducing the trans- 

 porting action of ice. yet the absence in the neighbourhood of the 

 block of the train of phenomena that usually accompanies glacia- 

 tion, rather militates against Prof. Park's conclusion being de- 

 finitely accepted at present. Its case might be analogous to that 

 cf the large blocks carried by the mud streams issuing from the 

 Soufriere of St. Vincent, and deposited en the low-lying ground 

 at the base of the volcano, for this block lies in a valley which 

 reaches up to the snow-clad volcano of Ruapehu, and it is quite 

 easy to imagine that when the snows melted in former times as a 

 result of eruptions, powerful torrents issued therefrom quite com- 

 petent to move such a block. 



In the same paper Treehmann also denies the glacial origin of 

 the great deposit of angular material flanking the hills to the east 

 lyi the Taieri Plain, in Otago, and known generally as the Henley 

 Moraine. He notes the absence of striated pebbles, and also points 

 out that the stratification probably indicates deposit by water. 

 Although Treehmann is nO' dcubt correct in his cpinion as to the 

 origin of the deposit, yet it must be observed that striated pebbles 

 are, according to my experience, generally absent from undoubted 

 morainic matter on tlie eastern side of the Southern Alps, 

 although certain deposits formerly asso'ciated with sub-glacial 

 streams are locally very rich in them. 



Trechmann's opinion is strongly supported by the work of 

 Marshall on the gold deposits of the Tuapeka district. The latter 

 pcints out that there is a similar dencsit at the base cf the gold 

 bearing series of ' that locality (Bwll. 19, X.Z. Geol. Survey) with 

 no evidence of glacier action, the supposed pavements of the Blue 

 Spur and other sluicing claims being the slickensided surface of 

 very flat fault planes. If it be granted that these and the Heiiley 

 deposits are not morainic, then the main evidence for the former 

 existence of ice-sheet conditions over the coastal region of Otago 

 practically disappears. 



The former extension of the glaciers beyond limits usually 

 assigned has been emphasized in two bulletins of the New Zealand 

 Geological Survey. In Bulletin No. 17, dealing with the West- 

 port subdivision, Morgan and Bartrum show that glaciers came 

 down almost to sea level on Addison Flat which lies to the west 

 of the mouth of the Buller River, while the mountains in the 

 vicinity, the Paparoa and Glasgow Ranges and Mount Rochfort. 

 all show traces of glacial sculpture^as well as heaps cf angular blocks 

 that may well be old moraines. In Bulletin No. 18, dealing with 

 the Reefton District, Henderson notes the former presence of 

 glaciers on the Victoria and Paparoa Ranges lying further south 

 than those referred to by Morgan and Bartrum, and of piedmonts 

 at the base of these mountains occupying a large part of the 

 floor of the valley of the Big Grey. While he classifies these 

 deposits as of Pleistocene age he notes the presence of deposits 



