Following compression, uplift and erosion of the rocks of the Rangitata Orogen (Carboniferous-Lower Cretaceous) a change to extensional tectonics occured in mid-Cretaceous times throughout the New Zealand region. A rift system developed on the West
The southern part of the Mornington Peninsula consists of Palaeozoic igneous rocks, Tertiary basalt, and Pleistocene dune calcarenite, the latter forming the Nepean Peninsula. Relationships between geology, landforms, soils and vegetation are traced
New Caledonia is a reef-fringed mountainous island, with extensive deeply-weathered ultrabasic rock formations which have concentrations of nickel and chromium ores, notably near the base of the weathered mantle. Opencast hilltop mining, initiated