﻿v.— 
  G 
  E 
  L 
  G 
  Y 
  . 
  

  

  Aet. 
  LXXXIY. 
  — 
  On 
  the 
  Geological 
  Structure 
  of 
  Banks 
  Peninsula, 
  being 
  an 
  

   Address 
  by 
  Prof. 
  Julius 
  von 
  Haast, 
  PH.D., 
  F.K.S., 
  President 
  of 
  the 
  

   Pliilosopliical 
  Institute 
  of 
  Canterbury. 
  

  

  [Read 
  before 
  the 
  Philosophical 
  Institute 
  of 
  Canterlury, 
  7th 
  March, 
  1878.] 
  

  

  Gentlemen, 
  — 
  Being 
  called 
  again 
  by 
  your 
  vote 
  to 
  the 
  honourable 
  position 
  of 
  

   presiding 
  at 
  your 
  meetings, 
  the 
  agreeable 
  duty 
  devolves 
  upon 
  me 
  to 
  address 
  

   you 
  to-night 
  at 
  the 
  opening 
  of 
  the 
  session 
  1878. 
  It 
  has 
  been 
  the 
  custom 
  of 
  

   your 
  newly 
  elected 
  President 
  either 
  to 
  offer 
  you 
  a 
  review 
  of 
  the 
  progress 
  of 
  

   science 
  in 
  New 
  Zealand, 
  to 
  treat 
  of 
  some 
  special 
  branch 
  of 
  scientific 
  

   research, 
  or 
  to 
  lay 
  before 
  you 
  the 
  results 
  of 
  his 
  own 
  investigations 
  into 
  the 
  

   zoology, 
  geology, 
  or 
  ethnology 
  of 
  these 
  interesting 
  islands. 
  

  

  With 
  your 
  permission, 
  I 
  shall 
  follow 
  the 
  latter 
  course, 
  and 
  venture 
  to 
  

   offer 
  you 
  some 
  remarks 
  upon 
  the 
  geological 
  features 
  disclosed 
  to 
  us 
  by 
  the 
  

   piercing 
  of 
  the 
  Christchurch 
  and 
  Lyttelton 
  Eailway 
  Tunnel, 
  a 
  gigantic 
  

   work, 
  ever 
  creditable 
  to 
  the 
  energy 
  and 
  forethought 
  of 
  the 
  Provincial 
  

   Government 
  of 
  Canterbury 
  in 
  those 
  days 
  when 
  only 
  a 
  small 
  population 
  had 
  

   settled 
  here, 
  and 
  the 
  work 
  to 
  be 
  undertaken 
  was 
  looked 
  upon 
  by 
  many 
  aa 
  

   far 
  beyond 
  our 
  means. 
  I 
  shall 
  preface 
  the 
  description 
  of 
  the 
  tunnel, 
  of 
  

   which 
  a 
  section 
  on 
  a 
  scale 
  of 
  one 
  inch 
  to 
  twenty 
  feet 
  hangs 
  at 
  the 
  wall, 
  by 
  

   some 
  observations 
  on 
  the 
  genetic 
  history 
  of 
  Banks 
  Peninsula, 
  and 
  upon 
  the 
  

   remarkable 
  system 
  of 
  dykes, 
  by 
  which 
  the 
  older 
  caldera 
  walls 
  have 
  been 
  

   intersected. 
  

  

  When 
  standing 
  on 
  the 
  Canterbury 
  plains 
  the 
  most 
  striking 
  feature 
  in 
  

   the 
  landscape 
  is 
  Banks 
  Peninsula, 
  rising 
  so 
  remarkably 
  above 
  the 
  sea 
  

   horizon, 
  that 
  its 
  regular 
  form 
  at 
  once 
  attracts 
  our 
  attention. 
  First 
  we 
  

   observe 
  a 
  series 
  of 
  mountains, 
  of 
  which 
  the 
  summits 
  are 
  all 
  nearly 
  of 
  the 
  

   same 
  altitude, 
  which, 
  as 
  it 
  appears 
  to 
  us, 
  as 
  far 
  as 
  our 
  eye 
  can 
  follow 
  their 
  

   outhnes, 
  form 
  nearly 
  a 
  circle, 
  from 
  which 
  a 
  great 
  number 
  of 
  ridges 
  slope 
  

   with 
  a 
  nearly 
  uniform 
  gradient 
  towards 
  south, 
  west, 
  and 
  north. 
  Above 
  

   them, 
  in 
  the 
  centre, 
  stands 
  conspicuously 
  a 
  higher 
  truncated 
  mountain 
  with 
  

   precipitous 
  escarpments, 
  assuming, 
  accordiug 
  to 
  the 
  position 
  of 
  the 
  traveller, 
  

   a 
  different 
  aspect. 
  The 
  rim 
  of 
  the 
  lower 
  mountains 
  in 
  front 
  rises 
  to 
  an 
  

   average 
  height 
  of 
  1,600 
  feet, 
  whilst 
  the 
  central 
  system 
  attains 
  an 
  altitude 
  of 
  

   3,050 
  feet. 
  On 
  reaching 
  Banks 
  Peninsula 
  fi-om 
  the 
  sea, 
  we 
  find 
  that 
  several 
  

  

  