THE NEW ZEALAND SOUND BASINS 



25 



moraines and general ice-stagnation resulted, inasmuch as the old 

 flood-scoured channels were now too broad and of too slight a grade 

 to admit of further corrasion by the present insignificant representa- 

 tives of the former glaciers. 



CHARACTERISTIC TOPOGRAPHIC FEATURES OF SOUTH- 

 WESTERN NEW ZEALAND 



I. Plateau remnants. — Around Milford Sound, Lake Te Anan, 

 and Lake Wakatipu there exist numerous sub-horizontal masses 



Fig. I. — Clinton Gorge; showing dismantled plateau, spurless chasm, and wide 

 canyon floor. In the foreground to the right Hes a large cirque. 



(Fig. i), and long ridges attaining heights of from 5,000 to 6,000 

 feet. Above these again rise peaks and masses to heights of 10,000 

 feet. Farther south sub-horizontal masses of much less elevation are 

 encountered (Fig. 2). 



These are apparently survivals of a flexed surface, the upland itself 

 representing the advanced maturity of subaerial erosion (in pre- 

 Tertiary times), when the land was at a much lower elevation. 



