GEOLOGY OF NEW ZEALAND. 205 



until the fossils from these North-Island localities have been carefully 

 compared with those from the typical districts at Amuri and 

 Waipara in the South Island, it is impossible to feel quite certain 

 about their age. 



The thickness of the system at Amuri Bluff is estimated by Mr. 

 M'^Kay at about 1600 feet. I considered the Matakea Series at 

 Shag Point to be between 6000 and 7000 feet. The strata are 

 usually much disturbed except in IS'orth Canterbuiy. In Marl- 

 borough they go, in Benmore, to an altitude of 4360 feet. In 

 BuUer county they form mountains 5000 or 6000 feet high, and at 

 Mt. Hamilton in Otago they occur at an elevation of 3700 feet. In 

 the ]N'orth Island the greatest elevation of the system is in the East 

 Cape district, and perhaps does not exceed 2000 feet. 



This system is quite unconformable to the Hokanui System in 

 Marlborough and Canterbury. The coal-measures of the Malvern 

 Hills and of Mt. Hamilton (fig. 3,/) rest on the Hokanui System ; 

 those of Shag Point, the Grey, and the Puller, rest on the Maitai 

 System ; and those of Pakawau in Nelson on the Takaka System, 

 showing a complete stratigraphical unconformity. The palaeontolo- 

 gical break is probably equally great, but it has not yet been proved. 



The upper part of the system in Marlborough and Canterbury 

 consists of white argillaceous limestone (Amuri limestone) often 

 containing flints. Dr. Hector calls it a deep-sea deposit ; but it 

 must have been formed within a few miles of land, and in the 

 Kaikoura peninsula has thin bands of fine conglomerate running 

 through it. Near Oxford, in Canterbury, a chalky limestone occurs 

 which, according to Dr. Hector, is " made up chiefly of minute 

 shells of Foraminif era " *, but I can find none in it. Although it 

 is remarkably pure, it must have been formed close to land, as the 

 Oxford Hills behind it rise to a considerable height. It is no doubt 

 the remains of an old coral reef; but as no fossils have been found 

 in it, it is uncertain whether it belongs here or to the Oamaru 

 System. 



In the typical district remains of marine Saurians belonging to 

 the genera Plesiosaurus, Mauisaurus, Taniiuhasawrus, PoJycoti/Ies, 

 and Leiodon have been found and have been described by Sir P. 

 Owen t and by Dr. Hector %. Among the MoUusca are Belem- 

 nites austrcdis, Phillips §, Co7ichothi/ra jjcuxisitica, M'^CoyH, a genus 

 allied to Puc/nellus, Conrad, of the North-American Cretaceous, 

 Tnoceramiis, Trigonia sulcata, Hector^, and many others not yet 

 described. The plants found at the base of the system at "Waipara 

 are chiefly dicotyledonous angiosperms and Dammara. From 

 Pakawau Dr. Hochstetter obtained Equisetites, Neurojpteris^ and 

 either Zamites or Phoenicites ; but leaves of dicotyledonous angio- 



* Eeports of G-eological Survey, 1879-80, p. viii. 

 t Brit. Assoc. Eep. 1861, p. 122, and Geol. Mag. 1870. 

 X Trans. N. Z. Institute, toI. vi. p. 333. 

 § Hector, Trans. N. Z. Inst. x. p. 487. 



II See Eeports of Geological Survey, 1 873-4, p. 37, footnote, 

 •^ Trans. N. Z. Inst. yi. p. 358, footnote. 



Q. J. G. S. No. 162. ft 



