We document the stratigraphy, composition, and chronology of a succession of 16 distal,

preserved in the Waitutu district of southeast Fiordland. Alluvial terraces related to glaciation of the immediate hinterland cross the marine terraces and allow the terraces to be confidently matched to the glacial/interglacial sequence. Three wellpreserved marine terraces of the Last Interglacial separate fluvioglacial terraces of the Last and Penultimate Glaciations. An uplift rate of 1.1 mm/yr, derived from the altitude of the fourth youngest terrace inferred to represent oxygen isotope stage 5e, is used to estimate the ages of the older marine terraces by linear extrapolation, up to > 900,000 years. The Waitutu marine terraces traced into southwestern Fiordland decrease markedly in height, to levels corresponding to an uplift rate of 0.6 mm/yr. The higher peaks of Fiordland conform to a summit-level surface which is interpreted to be, in effect, a marine terrace of very early Pleistocene age. The surface is broadly domed in a pattern matching the marine terraces of the south coast. Many of the strong structural features in the vicinity of southern Fiordland, associated with the convergent boundary between the Indo-Australian and Pacific plates, are of late Miocene age and belie the simple deformation pattern of essentially epeirogenic uplift the area has undergone in the Quaternary.

This paper presents quantitative descriptions of the vegetation plus associated vascular flora and soils on a sequence of ten marine terraces that extend from a Holocene raised beach a few metres above sea level to a terrace remnant at an elevation of630 m some 12 km inland. From the floristically rich coastal turf and scrub that occupies the most recent terrace there is a distinct sequence of vegetation. Tall mixed silver beech-podocarp-broadleaved forest on the lower altitude terraces (Terraces 2,to 4, < 150 m elevation) grades via mixed mountain beech-podocarp-manuka woodland through shrubland to open bog on the five terraces above 250 m.A postulated long-term, uninterrupted soil-vegetation chronosequence has not been confirmed. Soil development has been strongly affected by devegetation and surface deflation under periglacial conditions, and differential accumulation of loess during Pleistocene glacial periods. It is concluded that the vegetation pattern is related to a range of soil factors, particularly gradients in profile wetness that are associated with the increasing elevation between terraces and minor differences in topography within terraces.The sequence provides an extensive, essentially unmodified and valuable soilvegetation complex representative of marine terrace ecosystems formerly of widespread distribution nationally, which justifies formal reservation.

No abstract

The Northern Carnarvon Basin has a complicated geological history, with numerous sub-basins containing varying formation thicknesses, lithology types, and structural histories. These settings make pre-drill pore pressure prediction problematic; the high number of kicks taken in wells shows this. Kicks suggest unexpected pore pressure was encountered and mudweights used were below formation pressure. The horst block penetrated by the Parker–1 well is focused on in this peer-reviewed paper. This horst is one of many lying along Rankin Trend’s strike. In this well, kicks up to 17.2 ppg (pounds per gallon) were taken in the Mungaroo reservoir. The authors investigate whether the kicks represent shale pressure—or rather, represent pressure transferred into foot-wall sandstones—by using well data from Forrest 1/1A/1AST1 and Withnell–1, and wells located in the Dampier Sub-basin and the hanging-wall to the horst. This anomalous pressure could result from either cross-fault flow from juxtaposed overpressured Dingo Claystone or transfer up faults from a deeper source. Using a well data derived Vp versus VES trend, the authors establish that the kicks taken in Parker–1 are more likely to result from pressure transfer using faults as conduits. These data lie off a loading trend and appear unloaded but likely represent elevated sand pressures and not in situ shale pressure. Pressure charging up faults in the Northern Carnarvon Basin has been recognised in Venture 1/1ST1, however, this paper presents a focused case study. Pressure transfer is noted in other basins, notably Brunei. From unpublished data, the authors believe that buried horst blocks, up-fault charging and adjacent overpressured shale may explain high reservoir pressures in other basins, including Nam Con Son in Vietnam.