R. M. Brydone — Chalk Zone of Holaster planus. 245 



the Alpine chain as the Cleveland Hills do to the centres of ice 

 distribution in England or the Jura to the Swiss Alps. Had there 

 ever been an ice-sheet in the South Island it must have extended 

 at least to the foot of these elevated masses. Yet no trace of 

 transported erratics is seen on the slopes of these hills nor on the 

 plains between them and the Alpine range, nor have any glacial 

 striae been recorded on them. 



Turning now to the Pleistocene glacial phenomena we find these 

 splendidly developed along almost the whole length of the Alpine 

 system of the South Island. The only place where I have had the 

 opportunity of examining them at all closely is in the district of 

 Lake Whakatipu. Here are all the features of a glaciation of the 

 Alpine type splendidly displayed. There is the deep lake basin of 

 Whakatipu, and how far this is due to the action of the ice affords 

 the same opportunity for discussion as do the Swiss lakes. A fine 

 arc-like terminal moraine spans the end of the lake at Kingston, 

 having a length of 19 miles, and is cut through by the stream that 

 drains the lake. At Bob's Cove, half-way up the lake, a fine series 

 of erratics and striated surfaces is seen. 



I came to the conclusion that there is no evidence of Pleistocene 

 glaciation in the North Island, and that in the South Island the 

 glaciation was of an Alpine and not of a regional type. The Pliocene 

 and Pleistocene marine molluscan faunas show no evidence of the cold- 

 water conditions such as occurs in countries that have experienced 

 the conditions attendant upon the advance and retreat of an ice-sheet. 



It remains for New Zealand geologists to determine whether there 

 is in their Alps a succession of glacial deposits separated by inter- 

 glacial episodes, or, as seems much more probable, that there was one 

 glacial period whose deposits exhibit all the freshness shown by the 

 remains of the Wiirm glaciation of the European Alps. Such seems 

 to be the case with the glacial deposits I saw at Lake "Whakatipu. 



II. — The Base of the Chalk Zone of Holaster planus in the 

 Isle of Wight. 



By E. M. Brydone, F.G.S. 



STARTING with the bed labelled " Bicavea bed " by Rowe, 1 the 

 following generalized section represents the downward sequence 

 in the. Isle of Wight. 



1. Bicavea bed. Feet. 

 Seam of grey marl (" Grey Marl '-'). 



2. Hard rough nodular chalk ..... ... 8-10 



Seam of dark marl (" Black Marl "). 



3. Very hard lumpy chalk, containing a layer of green-coated nodules 



and passing in its lower 2 feet or so into smooth white chalk 



veined with marl ......... 12-15 



Seam of marl. 



4. Firm smooth white chalk in massive courses separated by seams 



of marl. 



1 The Zones of the White Chalk of the English Coast, pt. v, p. 220. 



