Journal of the Royal Society of New Zealand abstracts
Stratigraphy of the lower Maitai Group at West Dome, Southland, New Zealand
J. M. C. Stratford1*, C. A. Landis1†, S. R. Owen1*, E. H. Gilmour2, M. E. McColloch2, and H. J. Campbell3
1Geology Department, University of Otago, P.O. Box 56, Dunedin, New Zealand.
2Department of Geology, Eastern Washington University, Cheney, WA 99004, USA.
3Institute of Geological and Nuclear Sciences Ltd, P.O. Box 30 368, Lower Hutt, New Zealand.
*Present addresses: J. M. C. Stratford, Dunedin City Council, P.O. Box 5045, Dunedin, New Zealand. S. R. Owen, 10 Hudson Street, Glen Forrest, WA 6071, Australia.
†Author for correspondence. Email: landis@clear.net.nz
Abstract Five formations (Upukerora Formation, Wooded Peak Limestone, Tramway Formation, Little Ben Sandstone, and Greville Formation) representing the lower to middle Maitai Group are mapped on the southern flanks of West Dome, northern Southland. The rocks are dominantly redeposited volcaniclastic sediments and include breccia, conglomerate, sandstone, mudstone, and tuff, as well as redeposited atomodesmatinid (bivalve) limestone. Felsic tuffs are unusually abundant in the Tramway Formation and Wooded Peak Limestone at West Dome. A new unit, the Waitaramea Member, is introduced for distinctive strata in the upper part of the Wooded Peak Limestone characterised by devitrified felsic tuff, red mudstone, and reddish green sandstone. The biostratigraphic age of the lower Maitai Group on West Dome remains poorly constrained but bryozoan genera described from fossiliferous conglomerate lenses in the Wooded Peak Limestone confirm a late Early Permian to Late Permian age. These incude Dyscritella, Paralioclema, Fenestella, Maychella, Shulgapora, and others. Trace fossils are locally abundant in the Wooded Peak Limestone and Tramway Formation, and include Scalarituba, Planolites, and Lophoctenium. Lower Maitai strata at West Dome are overturned, dipping steeply to the north. They are weakly metamorphosed and contain abundant fine-grained authigenic minerals including both lawsonite and laumontite.
Keywords Maitai Group; Upukerora Formation; Wooded Peak Limestone; Tramway Formation; Little Ben Sandstone; Greville Formation; Waitaramea Member; Permian; Triassic; lawsonite; laumontite; Atomodesmatinae; Bryozoa; trace fossils; stratigraphy
R02033 Received 21 August 2002; accepted 26 May 2004; Online publication date 15 September 2004
© Journal of the Royal Society of New Zealand Volume 34, Number 3, September
2004, pp 267–293
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