GLACIAL ACTION IN AUSTRALASIA. 233' 



supposed ancient moraine extends from near Otokaia in a south- 

 west direction to Waihola, a distance of about eight miles. North, 

 of the Taieri River it occurs at the sea level and forms rounded 

 hills 400ft. to 500ft. in height, but south of the Taieri it ascends 

 the schist hills, and, at its southern extremity, attains its greatest 

 elevation of 1,200ft. above sea level. It is composed of a 

 confused loose mass of angular fragments of mica-schist, many 

 of the blocks being 10ft. or 12ft., or even more, in diameter. 

 North of the Taieri it is covered on the seaward side, nearly to 

 the top, by water- worn gravels. At the northern end it rests, 

 apparently conformably, on coal beds, which appear to be identical 

 with those of Green Island and of Kaitangata ; but sovith of the 

 Taieri it rests directly on the schists, without the intervention of 

 the coal-bearing series, and at Waihola sands and sandy clays,. 

 forming the base of the breccia, have yielded a few marine 

 fossils which apjjear to be of Miocene age. The local distribution 

 of this breccia, as well as the included blocks being formed of 

 mica-schist like that in the neighborhood and in central Otago, 

 preclude the idea that it has been formed by icebergs : and the 

 only possible explanation seems to be that it is the terminal 

 moraine of a Miocene or Pliocene glacier which came from 

 Waipori and Strath Taieri. This would, no dovibt, be accepted as- 

 the explanation if it were not an isolated phenomenon. At 

 present its mode of origin must remain sub judice. 



Omitting the Henley breccia, the other ancient glacier-marks 

 form a connected grouj) of phenomena all through the New 

 Zealand Alps, from Southland to Nelson, the most northerly being 

 around Mount Olympus (o.400ft.) in about lat. 42° 52'. No- 

 marks of ancient glaciers have been recorded from the Kaikoura 

 and Looker-on Ranges, although they attain altitudes of from 

 9,700ft. to 8,500ft. in lats. 42° 0' and 42° 15' respectively, and are 

 capped at the present day with perpetual snow. This may be due 

 to these mountains not having been so elevated at the time of the 

 great extension of the glaciers, or it may be due to their narrow- 

 ness, which did not give sufficient room for a snowtield large 

 enough to produce even a moderate sized glacier. 



A. — GEOLOGICAL EVIDENCE. 

 CHARACTER OF THE ICE-MARKS. 

 Moraines. — These are the most abundant and the most con- 

 spicuous marks that the ancient glaciers have left behind them in 

 New Zealand. It is by their moraines that the former limits of 

 the glaciers have in nearly all cases been traced. Without them 

 there would be very little evidence that the glaciers had ever 

 extended further than they do at present. They are, in fact, the 

 most permanent of all glacier-marks. The ancient moraines, both 

 lateral and terminpi like the recent moraines in New Zealand, 



