LIMESTONE “LOST” FOR 80 YEARS

Press, Volume XC, Issue 27472, 5 October 1954, Page 12

LIMESTONE “LOST” FOR 80 YEARS

REDISCOVERY IN OKUKU VALLEY Two geologists from Canterbury Uni-, versity College. Messrs G. Warren and J. D. Campbell, have rediscovered an outcrop of richly fossiliferous limestone that had been “lost" for nearly 80 years. The discovery will help the task of preparing a geological map of Canterbury on which work is at present in progress. In October, 1874, the Government geologist, Alexander McKay, discovered an outcrop of limestone in the Upper Okuku valley. The limestone was almost entirely composed of shells of a clam-like mollusc. Monotis. Until recently it was the only recorded occurrence in New Zealand of limestone with this fossil. McKay’s report did not define the’ locality clearly and a number of at-! tempts have been made to find it' agein. The outcrop found by Messrs Warren and Campbell is 25ft long and 20ft high. It stands high above the Okuku; river, half a mile south of Lees Pass' on Mount Lawry station. Although the area is not covered by detailed topographic maps the position of the limestone can be fixed accurately from aerial photographs