A cretaceous ‐ early tertiary Macrotidal estuarine‐fluvial succession: Puponga coal measures in Whanganui inlet, onshore Pakawau sub‐basin, Northwest Nelson, New Zealand

Abstract

An abrupt basinward shift in the depositional system is implied by lithofacies Association B, the Farewell Formation (Paleocene), that represents alluvial plain deposits. Association B is separated from the underlying Association A by an erosional (Lower Teurian) unconformity. This unconformity marks the Pakawau Group and Kapuni Group contact.

Allostratigraphy of coastal south and east Otago: A stratigraphic framework for interpretation of the Great South Basin, New Zealand

“…evittii to P. golzowense Zones) were not recognised in the Canterbury Basin, although resolution of age control within the Teurian was acknowledged as a problem (Field & Browne 1989). Contrary to this, a lower Teurian unconformity separates the Pakawau Group from the overlying Kapuni Group in the northwest South Island (Bal & Lewis 1994).…”

“…In the northwest of the South Island, an unconformity separates the Teurian Farewell Formation from the overlying Ngatoro Group of Kaiatan-Oligocene age (Bal & Lewis 1994). In the North Island, a late Teurian disconformity occurs between the Waipawa Black Shale and the Wanstead Formation (Wilson 1988;Moore 1989a).…”

First New Zealand record of probable dinosaur footprints from the Late Cretaceous North Cape Formation, northwest Nelson

“…Dinoflagellates have been recorded from many localities, as well as spores, including the Late Cretaceous taxon Tricolpites lilliei, which is an index fossil of the Miospore Assemblage Zone PM2 (after Raine 1984). In all cases the structures described here occur within the heterolithic laminated beds (HI) as described by Bal & Lewis (1994), and in most cases occur a few metres stratigraphically below coal or coaly mudstone beds in regressive, shallowing upward stratigraphic successions. Small burrows and rootlets are common throughout the formation.…”

“…North Cape Formation is a widely distributed formation throughout Taranaki Basin, recognised as a shallow marine unit, locally rich in coal and coaly mudstone, which accumulated in a depositional setting that periodically fluctuated between coal swamp, fluvial, and shallow marine through successive transgressions and regressions (Titheridge 1977;Bussell 1985;Thrasher 1992;wizevich et al 1992;Bal & Lewis 1994;King & Thrasher 1996;Starke 1996;Sykes & Dow 2000;Uruski 2008;Higgs et al in prep.). Locally, the carbonaceous facies of the North Cape Formation are of sufficient thickness that the coals were once mined (Suggate 1956;wells 1984).…”

“…The latter are infilled with sand and were interpreted as dwelling traces, and appear to differ from the structures described here. Bal & Lewis (1994) interpreted Lithofacies Association A2 as intertidal and supratidal mud flats, salt marshes, and paralic low-lying mires, characterised by repetitive variations in flow regime. Isolated lenticular sandstones were interpreted as small tidal channels that eroded into the surrounding sediments.…”