Story: Geology – overview

Vertical coal seam (1st of 2)

Vertical coal seam

This thick, vertical coal seam at Garvey Creek, east of Reefton, shows mine workings in the 1950s. The seam is part of the Brunner coal measures, deposited as a peat swamp about 37 million years ago. The swamp deposits were later deeply buried, forming coal of bituminous rank. The beds have been uplifted and tilted from horizontal to vertical in the last five million years.

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Te Ara - The Encyclopedia of New Zealand
Reference: G. J. Williams, Economic geology of New Zealand. Vol 4. Melbourne: Office of the Congress and of the Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy, 1965, plate 43
Photograph by W. A. Sara

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How to cite this page:

Eileen McSaveney and Simon Nathan, 'Geology – overview - New Zealand reborn', Te Ara - the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, http://www.TeAra.govt.nz/en/photograph/8380/vertical-coal-seam (accessed 29 March 2024)

Story by Eileen McSaveney and Simon Nathan, published 12 Jun 2006