GEOLOGY OF NEW ZEALAND. 435 
SKETCH OF THE GEOLOGY OF NEW ZEALAND.* 
BY CAPT. EF. W. HUTTON, “F:G:8.; 
Professor of Biology in Canterbury College. 
> 
For its size there are few places in the world where such a variety 
of geological phenomena are collected together as in New Zealand. 
Sedimentary rocks are represented of nearly all ages, from Archean 
upwards, and all but the lowest have yielded fossils. We have 
metamorphic and igneous rocks of nearly all kinds. We have volcanic 
cones, of all sizes, from low hills to Ruapehu, more than 9,000 feet in 
height. And we have them in all stages of degradation, from mere 
stumps to fresh scoria cones, and one—Tongariro—even still active. 
We have solfataras and mud-volcanoes, fumaroles, geysers, and hot- 
springs in abundance. We have a mountain range with an alpine 
structure, and with glaciers and glacier-lakes almost equalling those of 
Europe. But one thing is missing: there are no red-sandstones, either 
with or without salt and gypsum, and no magnesian limestones. New 
Zealand appears never to have been the site of great lacustrine 
deposits. 
In addition to all these advantages, our geographical position is 
one of great interest. It is in New Zealand alone that we have any 
record of the ancient floras and faunas that overspread the South 
Pacific, and it is here we must look for the evidence of the changes that 
have taken place in the physical geography and climate of this 
enormous area. Situated at the antipodes of Europe any change of 
climate there, brought about by shifting in position of the earth’s axis, 
by changes in the obliquity of the ecliptic, or by any cosmical cause 
whatever, must find its parallel in New Zealand, and consequently New 
Zealand is to Europe a base of verification for all such-like hypotheses. 
In offering a slight sketch of the general geological structure of the 
country, it is necessary to say that several of the opinions expressed 
are not universally agreed to by other New Zealand geologists. I 
merely state my own views, which may be wrong, but which have been 
arrived at by a long and conscientious study of New Zealand geology. 
In the following arrangement of our sedimentary rocks the right- 
hand column gives the probable European equivalents of our local 
systems, but it must be understood that this is merely provisional, and 
constantly liable to change. I have introduced into the systems two 
new names—the Hokanui and the Takaka systems. Both of them are 
for natural groups of rocks which have never before had any names 
attached to them. 
TABLE OF SEDIMENTARY FORMATIONS. 
, Probable 
Systems. Series. European Equivalents. 
{ Alluvia and Aolian deposits with Moa R t 
\ bones and traces of Man. ecent. 
° Raised beaches and shore deposits. . 
peeeworenc ‘ Peat-mosses with Moa bones. kp meTsEoeere. 
Recent ... 
* Abstract of a paper read to the Geological Society of London, on Jan. 14th, 1885. 
