The geology of the Waipatiki area

Abstract

GENERAL: The mapped area (see Fig. 1.) covers about 65 square miles consisting substantially of the subsheet N150/5 lying about 15 miles to the S.E. of Dannevirke and straddling the Dannevirke - Weber and the Dannevirke - Makuri Roads. It is covered by sheep farms, some 400 to 1,200 acres in size, with small patches of the original bush cover remaining, though some of the steeper country has reverted to manuka scrub. PREVIOUS WORK: The southern part of the mapped area is part of the Mt. Cerberus and Weber Survey Districts of the Eketahuna Subdivision (Ongley, 1935). The northern part is part of the Taheroiti and Mangatoro Survey Districts of the Dannevirke Subdivision (Lillie, 1953). Ongley's survey was completed before the development of age determinations by foraminifera, but Lillie was able to get enough micropalaeontological determinations (Finlay, 1953) to ensure that his divisions did not overlap in time, but insufficient to identify them with certainty across the great EW lithofacies changes present in the Dannevirke Subdivision.