A history of the geology of Wellington Peninsula, New Zealand: an analysis of nineteenth to early twentieth century observations and ideas

Abstract

Scientific observations and interpretations of the geology of the Wellington Peninsula, New Zealand, during a 55-year period from 1855 to 1910, were made by four geologists; James Coutts Crawford between 1855 and 1885, Alexander McKay between 1872 and 1894, James Hector between 1865 and 1893, and James McIntosh Bell in 1910. Their studies established the foundation to nearly all aspects of Wellington geology, namely. lithology, structure, fossils, age, correlation and distribution of greywacke, Tertiary and Quaternary sediments, regional deformation and peneplanation, the origin of Wellington Harbour, marine terraces, earthquake-uplifted beaches, the moa and its relation to Maori occupation, delineation of faults, in particular the Wellington Fault, and the effects of the destructive earthquake in 1855. These advances are examined in light of our current early twenty-first-century understanding. Published and previously unpublished archival material used in this study reveals a more substantive record of the development of geological thinking by these first geologists than is currently understood and appreciated by the earth science community.