OF THE " WEBTA-PASS STONE " OF NEW ZEALAND. 267 



Grey Marl ; while in my opinion it lies between the Amuri lime- 

 stone and the Weka-pass Stone. On this point Dr. Hector says 

 that he cannot satisfy himself " of any stratigraphical break be- 

 tween the Amuri limestone and the overlying grey marls " *, ap- 

 parently placing the Weka-pass Stone with either one or the other. 

 Mr. M'Kay says, " Xo doubt there is a considerable difference in the 

 character of the fossils found in the calcareous green-sands [i. e. 

 Weka-pass Stone] and those in the underlying Saurian beds ; but, 

 even admitting the conformity between them, this is to be expected. 

 Stratigraphically, I could find no conclusive evidence of uncon- 

 formity, and if the Weka-pass calcareous green-sands belong to the 

 Waipara beds, no unconformity can be conceded as far as the upper- 

 most beds of the Mount-Brown Series " t. Dr. von Haast says that 

 in the northern parts of Canterbury the green sandstones of the 

 Waipara are overlain by " chalk marls, or chalk-like limestone " [i. e. 

 Amuri limestone], which is succeeded by a glauconitic calcareous 

 sandstone [?*. e. Weka-pass Stone], and which is the highest bed of 

 the series J. He allows that a break sometimes, as at Weka Pass, 

 appears to occur between these two calcareous rocks ; but he argues 

 that this is only apparent, because the upper beds are always con- 

 formable to the lower, and in some localities there is a gradual 

 passage from the one to the other. He does not, however, name 

 these localities. 



Such are the views held at present by those geologists who have 

 visited the district. The object of this paper is to bring together all 

 available evidence on the position of this divisional line. But before 

 doing so it will be better to give the geographical distribution of the 

 beds with which we are concerned. 



Geogeaphical Distribtjtion of Eocks. 



The greeii sandstones and other associated rocks with acknow- 

 ledged Cretaceous fossils extend from near Cape Campbell, on Cook's 

 Straits, along the east coast of the island, to the Hurinui, and then 

 trend inland to the Middle Waipara and the Malvern Hills, lying 

 between the Waimakai^ri and Eakaia rivers. In no other part of 

 I^ew Zealand are they known with certainty, and in no other part 

 have any Cretaceous marine Saurians been found. The Amuri 

 limestone occurs near Cape Campbell, and going southward, is found 

 at various places along the east coast as far as Motunau, and again 

 at Weka Pass and the Middle Waipara. Further to the south it is 

 quite unknown, except possibly in the Trelissic basin on the Wai- 

 makariri §. In the Is'orth Island it has been recognized by IFr. 



* ' Geological Eeports,' 1873-74, p. x. Published in 1877. 



t ' Greological Eeports,' 1874-76, p. 39. See also Trans. N. Z. Institute, ix. 

 (1876) p. 583. 



+ ' Geology of Canterbury ' (1879), p. 297. 



§ The cbalk-mai-ls mentioned by Mr. M'Kay at Kakahu and Pareora. in 

 South Canterbury (Geol. Eeports, 1876-77, p. 61), appear to be different. Dr. 

 von Haast considers them, correctly I think, as belonging to the Oaraaru Svstem 

 (Geol. Canterbury, p. 309). 



