Speicut.—Benmore Coal Area of the Malvern Hills. 619 
The Benmore Coal Area of the Malvern Hills. 
By R. 8рююнт, M.A., M.Sc., F.G.S., F.N.Z.Inst., Curator of the 
Canterbury Museum. 
[Read before the Philosophical Institute of Canterbury, 7th November, 1923; received by 
Editor, 24th December, 1923 ; issued separately, 28th August, 1924.) 
any further exploitation. Recent examinations of the area by the present 
author have revealed geological features of some interest, notably in their 
bearing on the origin of the present topography of the Malvern Hills and 
of the Southern Alps, and hence this brief account. 
with a width varying from nothing at its two ends up to about half a mile 
is one of the highest occurrences of coal-measures in the alpine region of 
the South Island. Some few are certainly higher, but they are by no 
means so extensive. It is located in the valley of Macfarlane Stream 
ange. shelf has a general N.E.-S.W. 
trend, but it is divided from the valley of Macfarlane Stream for the north- 
easur 
the structure of the area, a. description of the beds occurring in each will 
be given. op 
The extreme north-eastern end of the area consists of clays, sandy clays, 
and thin beds of lignite most of which is of low grade. This part is much 
disturbed by slip and covered with surface debris, so that it is impossible 
to obtain a definite idea of the relations of the various beds. The first 
