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Volume 81, 1953
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4.—Light-Coloured Claystones And Siltstones

These beds are lithologrcally similar to the Onerahi Beds (or Formation) of Ferrar (1925, 1934) which are widespread throughout North Auckland. In the

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Fig. 1.-Thin-bedded siliceous claystones and cherts; west side of the mouth of Wairere Estuary. The dark rubble on the extreme right marks the position of a dolerite (?) flow.
Fig. 2.—Concretionary sandstone; inlet between Whirinaki and Omanaia Estuaries.
Fig. 3.—Margin of the Third Taheke Flow in the embayment near its north-west limit. Recent river alluvium in foreground.
Fig. 4.—North face of Whirinaki Range showing alignment of facetted spur ends. Kernbut at right.

(Photo. Prof. J. A. Bartum)

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Fig. 5.—View looking north-east from Karakamatamata Trig. First Taheke Flow near skyline on left, Second Taheke Flow on right. The Third Taheke Flow occupies the valley just showing at the extreme right.
Fig. 6.—Panorama from near junction of Waoku Road and Main Highway. Earliest course of Waima River in foreground; second course passing from left to right in middle distance; the present course passes behind the bushy knoll in the centre middle distance.

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Fig. 7.—Panorama from 1 ½ miles north of junction of Waoku Road and Main Highway. Second course of Waima River in middle distance joining the present course at the right. Whirinaki Range in the background, with the Waipoua Plateau at the extreme left.
Fig. 8.—Coarse-gained dolerite. Whirinaki range. Plagioclase ilmenite (extreme left), interstitial weakly-birefringent zeolite (left-centre) and uralite (fibrous, centre). Crossed Nicols; magnification 38 dimeters.
Fig. 9.—Variolite; boulder on shore near mouth of Wairere Estuary. Ordinary light; magnification 37 diameters.

(Photo. Prof. J. A. Bantrum.)

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Fig. 10.—Ordinary light, magnification 38 diameters.
Fig. 11.—Clossed Nicols; magnification 38 diameters.
Fig 10 and 11—Variolitic basalt from volcanic breccia, Whirinaki Range east of Pioitahi Stream. Large crystal of augite (top left) replaced by two forms of chlorite and a large feldspar pehnocryst partially replaced by a weakly-birefringent zeolite. At bottom, extreme left, a small portion of a feldspar crystal entirely replaced by opal.
Fig 12—Basalt of Second Taheke Flow. Augite enwrapping plagioclase (top right), olivine (top centre) and interstitial carbonate (dark, lower left) enclosing plagioclase Groundmass of feldspar laths, augite granules, and iron ore. Ordinary light; magnification 37 diameters.
Fig 13—Basalt of Horeke Flow (non-ophitic phase). Laths of feldspar, occasional granules of augite and olivine, and dark mesostasis. Large augite crystal at bottom. Ordinary light; magnification 37 diameters.

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present area they are typically light in colour and fine in grain and, apart from a small outerop on the Main Highway east of Waima River Bridge, are limited to the hills on either side of Omanaia Estuary.

On the foreshore at Rawene extensive outcrops of slightly calcareous claystones and siltstones vary in colour from light-green to chocolate-brown and commonly exhibit polished, slickensided surfaces. They are veined with calcite and occasionally contain hard, ovoid, siliceous concretions, up to 9 inches in length, which, on being struck with a hammer, break up into a series of concentric shells. The highly variable disposition of the beds and the lack of outcrops in the critical area make it difficult to determine their relation to the concretionary sandstones and conglomerates to the south.

On the hill slopes west of Omanaia Estuary several isolated patches of white and light-grey calcareous siltstones grade in places into impure argillaceous limestone. Similar limestone occurs in a road cutting on the Main Highway immediately east of Waima River. These beds appear to cap the concretionary sandstones of the previous group, a relation borne out by the record in bores of “green sands” beneath the limestones and siltstones. The limestone differs from the typical argillaceous limestone of other North Auckland localities described by previous writers (e. g, Marshall, 1924) in that it only rarely contains foraminiferal tests.