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The Geology
Rodney Grapes and Hamish Campbell, The Taputeranga Marine reserve, 2nd edition, 2008. Photos by Stephen Journeé
Rocks exposed in the cliffs and rock platforms of the south Wellington coast at the at the Taputeranga marine reserve are collectively referred to as wellington greywacke. Except for minor volcanic rocks, they are sedimentary rocks originally accumulated on the sea floor of the paleo-pacific or Panthalassa ocean, and were subsequently deformed and metamorphosed by burial, and later exhumed by uplift and eroded to form the present landscape.
