114 
STRATIGRAPHICAL GEOLOGY OF THE PERMO-CAR- 
BONIFEROUS SYSTEM IN THE MAITLAND- 
BRANXTON DISTRICT, 
With some Notes on the Permo-Carboniferous PALiEOGEO- 
graphy in New South Wales. 
By A. B. Walkom, B.Sc, Linnean Macleay Fellow of the 
Society in Geology. 
Page. 
Preliminary 
Lower Marine Series 
Greta Coal-Measures 
Upper Marine Series 
Palseogeographical Notes.. 
114 
115 
127 
134 
139 
(Plates viii.-xiii., and ten text-figures.) 
This paper is the result of about four months' fieldwork in the 
Hunter River District, the area examined during that period being 
bounded on the north by the Hunter River, and on the other three 
sides roughly by a line drawn through West Maitland, Mt. Vin- 
cent, Mt. View, and Belford, and also a small area north of the 
Hunter River, between West Maitland and Paterson. 
The most important work done on this area is Professor David's 
memoir on "The Geology of the Hunter River Coal-Measures of 
New South Wales."* In that work, the coal-measures are worked 
out in detail, but the Lower Marine Series and the Upper Marine 
Series are not treated in as great detail as the coal-bearing series. 
It was with the object of obtaining a more detailed knowledge of 
these two marine series, that this work was done. One portion of 
the outcrop of the Greta Coal-Measures, namely, that extending 
south from Branxton, was not very well-known at the time Pro- 
Mem. Geol. Survey N. S. Wales, Geology No. 4, 1907. 
BY A. B. WALKOM. 115 
fessor David's work was published ; but since then, a good deal of 
prospecting has been done along this part of the outcrop, and fresh 
information was obtainable, and is included in this paper. 
To make the lists of fossils as complete as possible, fairly large 
collections were made, and these have been supplemented by 
records of localities of fossils, from the publications of the Geo- 
logical Survey of New South Wales, and from the "Catalogue of 
Australian Fossils," by R. Etheridge, Jr. In many cases, however, 
the record of the locality of fossils is not definite enough to per- 
mit of their horizon being determined. Only cases where the 
locality is sufficiently definitely stated, have been used in complet- 
ing these lists. The map which accompanies the paper (Plate ix.) 
is part of Professor David's Map of the Hunter River Coal- 
Measures, published by the Geological Survey of New South 
Wales, in 1907, with additions which have resulted from my field- 
work. 
Lower Marine Series. 
The development of the Lower Marine Series varies considerably 
in different parts of the district; vertical sections have been 
obtained in three places, and are shown in Figs. 1-3. In Fig. 1 
(p. 116), which gives the most typical section, and that in which 
the series is most completely represented, the series attains a thick- 
ness of nearly 4,800 feet. This section is taken from the occur- 
rences in the area between Farley, Greta, and Cessnock. Fig. 2 
(p. 117) gives the succession near the Carboniferous inlier of Mt. 
Bright, where there is a considerable overlap of the lower beds. Fig. 
3 (p. 118) is taken along the Eelah Road, where there is also a con- 
siderable overlap. 
The group of hills about one mile south-east of Lochinvar Town- 
ship, of which Winder's Hill is the most prominent, is composed of 
a varied series of rocks of Carboniferous age. They include a 
variety of volcanic rocks, both acid and intermediate; and also 
sedimentary rocks, such as conglomerate, sandstone, and yellow- 
ish cherty tuff. These sedimentary rocks, in places, contain abun- 
dant plant-remains, such as Rhacopteris, which indicate that they 
are of Upper Carboniferous age. 
116 
REOLOCJY MAITLAND-BKANXTON DISTRICT, 
Skirting- the southern end of these Carboniferous rocks are the 
lowest beds of the Permo-Oarboniferous System that occur in the 
Hunter River District, namely, the Lochinvar glacial beds. These 
can be traced, almost continuously, from a point just west of the 
village of Gosforth round to a point about half a mile south of the 
II it liter River, on the road from Lochinvar to Windermere, a total 
ft 
Sooo 
UJ 
UJ 
cxi 
UJ 
o ? 
ggj^^T 
r-i -•- 
r* 
\\ wwwwwwww w 
£ * 
Fig.L — 
A' A *" A l A 
mm 
Vertical Section of 
Farley -Or 
Sandy Shales « MudsTonts with very 
numerous minne folsils 
Sandstone 
Ravensfield Sandstone 
Mostly KaM colour, d Mudstor.es with thin beds 
of limestone al A « B and a few erraHcs 
atC 
.Oe.ntufficeouj «ndst on eofHarpe/s Hill 
'Hor.j.n .1 B«IC Rock. E »? L«l.in«r rUiWj, STaCo* 
(Coarse andeaifk conglomerate wilh abundant 
lEurydBSmiCorctjTa pamnd, inlo hyr-erslhene 
Landes.lt •> toffs of BUtrOuauid 
Chiefly Shaie*itAu<Jston»s - with patches of 
Sandstone nearlhe Top - containing a 
few Ganajmopfens leaves * numerous 
marine fossils 
Rather ha^ chert, Mudstanes 
Basalt 
Mudstores - rafhtr riard and cherly in part 
wilh few erratics 
Natrolitt Basalt 
Mudstonesand Shales with occasional erratics 
Massive 5and«tone wilh planl remains 
Chocolate Shales wiTti glacial erratic* 
S«<""S o» eruptive and Sedimentary rock* 
witfc Rhacopterij ^tc 
Lower Marine Series in the 
eta District. 
distance of about five miles. In places, they are distinctly uncon- 
formable with the underlying- beds. In portions 5 and 6, Parish of 
Gosforth, the Carboniferous rocks strike 225°, and dip to the 
south-east at high angles (58°-64°); and the strike of the glacial 
BY A. B. WALKOM. 
11 
beds varies between 195° and 170°, and they dip at low angles 
(15° to 8°). They have been described by Professor David,* and 
consist of fine-grained, reddish-brown to chocolate-coloured shales, 
containing numerous boulders up to about 2 feet in diameter. Very 
many of these boulders are waterworn, but some are undoubtedly 
striated and faceted as a result of ice-action. Their thickness 
varies, a section near the north-west corner of portion 13, Parish 
of Gosforth, gives their thickness as about 150 feet, but further 
south, on Windella Estate, they are quite 250 feet thick. There is 
a good outcrop on the road from Loehinvar to Windermere, but 
the lower limit there is hidden under recent alluvial, so that the 
thickness is not determinable. No marine fossils have ever been 
found in these shales. The glacial beds are not found on the 
northern side of the 
Hunter River. At the 
eastern end of the Car- 
boniferous rocks, near 
Eelah, they are over- 
lapped by higher mem- 
bers of the Lower Ma- 
rine Series: while, at 
the western end of the 
Carboniferous complex, 
the Elderslee fault lias 
thrown the UpperCoal- 
Measures down against 
the Carboniferous. 
Immediately overly- 
ing the chocolate shales, 
is a massive sandstone, 
about 100 feet thick : and no marine fossils have yet been 
reported from this. Careful search was made, at several points, in 
this sandstone for marine fossils, but without success. It contains, 
however, numerous plant-remains. There is a possibility, then, 
that this lowest part of the Lower Marine Series is of freshwater 
Ravensfi»ld Sandstone 
SomevnaT calcareous Mud«Ton« «■*!« 
numirui marine focsili 
Foriminifc/al Imestonl honjon 
Baulf *,fc a-nyj <!../.« of nafrtl.ri, JaMTi A. 
ano TuKs w.rfi marine fcJS'lt 
ngtomtraTc and sandsTofll 
Caroomfi/ous rocki - mostly *rupfiv«i 
Wift i ftw stdim«ntan«s 
Vertical Section in the vicinity of 
Pokolbin and Mt. View. 
• Journ. Proc. Pvoyal Soc. N. 8. Wales, 1899, xxxiii., pp. 154-159. 
118 
GEOLOGY MAITLAND-BRANXTON DISTRICT, 
origin. As a new and extensive occurrence of the glacial beds has 
recently been described from the Kempsey District,* it would per- 
haps be as well to leave any further discussion of them until that 
area has been more fully worked out. 
This stage is followed by an enormous development of marine 
sandstones and mudstones, with which are associated a number of 
contemporaneous lava-flows. There are, first, about 400 feet of 
gritty, ferruginous mudstone, followed by a flow of basalt, 50 feet 
thick, in which numerous small steamholes have become filled with 
secondary minerals, such as analcite, natrolite, calcite, etc. 
T 
I 
I 
in 
ft 
Jooo 
2000 
mrrrn 
GRETA COAL MEASURES 
JSO 
Rather Soft orrtty Sandstone 
4U 
NaW.itt basalt pnu*j Ur v*r<J< mbluffs wifti marine fossils 
Massiw SanJtTont („.w,d, t. mtki*i «•» (Uvmifwld S*nd«1»n«) 
15* 
Cherty Shales with mmute sporangia 
Soft Mudtfann 
Dacife ef« (CARBONIFEROUS) 
Fig. 3. —Vertical Section obtained along Eelah Road. 
Then come 700 feet of rather hard shales and mudstones, which 
contain a few erratics, followed by a basalt-flow, 150 feet thick. 
This is followed by 1,300 feet of shales and mudstones, which also 
contain a few erratics, and near the top of which, there are numer- 
ous small patches of calcareous sandstone. About 100 feet above 
the basalt, the shales are somewhat cherty, and contain veins filled 
with a red secondary material, probably chalcedony. 
* W. G. Woolnough, Journ. Proc. Royal Soc. N. S. Wales, 1911, xlv. 
pp. 159-168. 
BY( A. B. WALKOM. 
119 
It is in these beds that the lowest horizon for marine fossils in 
the series is found. About halfway up the series, and about 2,000 
feet from the base of the marine series,* there is a zone in which 
Ptycomphalina trifilata, P. nuda, and Gangamopteris are found, 
the first-named being particularly abundant. This zone is exposed 
in a small quarry on the road, about half a mile north of Lochin- 
var Railway Station. 
A little higher up in the mudstones, fossils become much more 
abundant, and the following have been found: — ■ 
Tribrachiocrinus sp 
Indeterminate crinoid. 
Crinoid stems. 
Fenestell <(?) inter nata. 
F.(%) fossula. 
Stenopora tasmaniensis. 
Spirifer duodecimcostata. 
S. stokesi. 
S. avicula. 
Martiniopsis subradiata. 
var. morrisii. 
cf. morrisii. • 
Productns cor a v&r.farleyensis, 
Strophahsia jukesi. 
Chonetes sp. 
Merismopteria, sp.nov. 
Aviculopecten sprenti. 
A. tenuicollis. 
A. englehardti. 
A. sp. 
Deltopecten subquinquelineatus- 
D. farleyensis. 
Mceonia sp. 
Pleurophorus. 
NotomyafV). 
Pachydomus. 
Mourlonia. 
Ptycomphalina trifilata. 
Platyschisma. 
Conularia. 
Edmondiai ?) nobilissima. 
In the sandstone patches, near the top of these mudstones, fos- 
sils are abundant, and comprise the following : — 
Spirifer vespertilio. Pleurophorus sp. 
S. tasmaniensis. Pachydomus. 
Martiniopsis subradiata. Mourlonia rotundatum. 
Chcenomya sp. Keeneia (juv.). 
* On p. 322 of Professor David's Memoir, this is stated as 3,000 feet; it 
is probably a misprint, as on the vertical section accompanying that work, 
it is shown as about 2,000 feet. 
120 GEOLOGY MAITLAND-BKANXTON DISTRICT, 
Edmondia{1) nobilissinia. Conularia laevigata. 
Deltopecten subquinqnelineatus. Plant-stems. 
M<foiiia, 3 spp. 
One hundred and fifty feet below the top of these mudstones, 
(or 2,450 feet above the base of the marine beds), in a band of 
dark-coloured, sandy, calcareous mudstone, numerous specimens 
of the pseudomorph Glendonite were obtained. Further details 
of this are embodied in a separate note. 
Following the mudstones, there is a development of a coarse 
conglomerate with large waterworn pebbles, chiefly composed of 
andesite, followed by a rather soft gritty sandstone, and then a 
rather coarse, greenish, tuffaceous sandstone. These together form 
a thickness of strata of about 250 feet. The conglomerate is known 
as the Allandale Con glomerate,, and contains an abundance of large 
molluscs with thick shells, such as Euri/desma eordata, Platy- 
scliisma oculus, Keeneia platyschismoides, etc. The greenish, tuffa- 
ceous sandstone is the Harper's Hill Sandstone. These beds are 
only developed locally in the neighbourhood of Allandale. Towards 
the south-east, they seem to give place to a development of tuffs 
associated with the hypersthene-andesite of Blair Duguid Hill. 
This hypersthene-andesite mass is contemporaneous in the Lower 
Marine Series; the mudstones can be seen dipping under it at a 
gentle angle (9i°-10°) on its northern side, and they have prac- 
tically the same dip at its western end, so that they, apparently, 
have not been disturbed by the volcanic rock. The centre of erup- 
tion must have been somewhere in the vicinity of Blair Duguid 
Hill, and the activity here was doubtless responsible for some of 
the blocks of andesite in the Allandale Conglomerate, as well as 
for the tuft'aecous nature of the Harper's Hill Sandstone. The 
hypersthene-andesite contains a great number of steamholes filled 
with secondary material, and beautiful specimens of agate, chal- 
cedony, etc., can be obtained. At the eastern end of the mass, near 
the junction of two creeks in portion 152, Parish of Allandale, 
masses of chert, up to about 18 inches in diameter, have been 
floated up in the lava. This chert resembles very much that in 
which Carboniferous fossils are found near Winder's Hill, and 
BY A. U. VVALKOM. 
121 
has probably been brought up from some considerable depth, as 
there would be nearly 3,000 feet of Permo-Carboniferous strata 
between this horizon and the underlying' Carboniferous rocks. 
►Some distance to the east of Lochinvar Railway Station, there 
is a large mass of basic rock, which is on a horizon about 2,700 
feet above the base of the marine beds; this, then, probably belongs 
to the same series as the volcanic rocks round Blair Duguid. In 
the opposite direction, to the north-west, the conglomerate seems 
to die out quickly, and give place to a thicker development of the 
Harper's Hill Sandstone, for there is no outcrop of the conglomer- 
ate on the main road to Singleton, going up Harper's Hill. Fossils 
are very numerous in these beds; in the railway-cutting, just over 
half a mile east of Allandale, there is a bed about 2 to 3 feet thick, 
composed mostly of the remains of thick shells like Eurydesma 
cor data and Platyschisma. The following is a list of fossils from 
these beds: — 
Crinoid stems. 
Stenopora fasma// iensis. 
S. all. tasmaniensis. 
S. ovata. 
Fenestella{ \)fossula. 
Polypora. 
Dielasma hastata. 
D. sacculus. 
Martiniopsis subradiata. 
var. morrisii. 
cf. morrisii. 
Spirifer vesper/ Hi<>. 
S. stokes i. 
S. tasmaniensis. 
S. darker . 
S. sp.ind. 
Sol enopsis sp. 
Ch mtwmya etheridgei. 
C. sp. 
AUorisma curvatum. 
A viculopecten tenuicollis. 
A. squamnliferus. 
A. mitchelli. 
A. sprenti. 
A. sp.ind. 
Deltopecten illawarrensis. 
J). Jittoni . 
D. limceformis. 
En rydesma cordaUt. 
Aphanaia sp.ind. 
Modiola crass i.ssima. 
Pleur&phorus sp.ind. 
Orthonota sp. 
Notomya sp. 
N. cuneata. 
Pachydomus antiquatus, 
P. Icevis. 
P. ovalis. 
Orthonychia nltum. 
Platyceras, n.sp. 
122 GEOLOGY MAITLAND-BKANXTON DISTRICT, 
Edmo7idia(l) nobilissima. Ptycomphalina trifilata. 
Palcearca subarguta. P. morrissiana(\). 
Merismopteria macroptera. Keeneia platyschismoides. 
M. n. sp. Platyschisma oculus. 
M. sp.ind. P. depressa. 
Avicnla inlumescens. C onularia inomata. 
0. Iceviyata. 
Following the Harper's Hill beds, there are 560 feet of light- 
coloured mudstones, with two horizons of limestone-bands. The 
mudstones are somewhat calcareous, but, in the outcrops from 
which this section was obtained, they contain few fossils. 
Further south, however, near Pokolbin, there are numerous 
fossils in them (see later p. 125). At about 130 feet above the 
base of the mudstones, there occur in several localities (marked a 
on the map) limestone-bands containing marine fossils, amongst 
which Fenestellidae are abundant. The following fossils occur on 
this horizon : — 
Stenopora. Aviculopecten squamuliferus. 
Fenestella(1) fossula. Platyschisma. 
F.(l) internata. Euomphalus( t :). 
Spirifer. Ptycomphalina. 
In the cuttings, along the road from Allandale Railway Station 
to the main northern road, a number of small faults can be seen, 
which, however, cannot be traced on the surface. They appear 
to be a series of step-faults, with small throws to the north-east. 
At 420 feet from the base of the same mudstones, there is 
another series of limestone-concretions at several places (marked 
/3 on the map), but these contain only very few fossils. 
Almost at the top of these beds, just below the Ravensfield 
Sandstone, in portions 46 and 47, Parish of Heddon, there are a 
number of large granitic erratics. 
The mudstones are the topmost beds of the Lochinvar Stage, 
and are followed by the Ravensfield Sandstone, the lowest beds 
of the Farley Stage. 
BY A. B. WALKOM. 
123 
The Farley Stage commences with the well-known Ravensfield 
►Sandstone. This sandstone forms a very persistent horizon, and 
is from 12-20 feet thick. In the vicinity of Farley Railway 
Station, there is a considerable development of massive sandstone, 
reaching perhaps 200 feet in thickness, part of which is the 
Ravensfield Sandstone. The part which corresponds to the 
Ravensfield Sandstone, and which has been quarried for building- 
stone, is about the middle of this massive sandstone. It is 
difficult, however, to make a division-line in this sandstone, and 
the whole of it has here been included with the Farley Stage. A 
similar occurrence is met with on the Eelah Road, and will be 
described later(p. 126). There are numerous conglomerate patches 
in the Ravensfield Sandstone, and they contain a varied and 
abundant marine fauna, amongst which are the folio wins: : — 
Lasiocladia. 
Palceaster clarkei 
P. stutchburii. 
P. giganteus. 
Fenestella^.) fossula. 
F.(\) sp. 
Dielasma cymboeformis. 
D. biundata. 
D. sp. 
Spirifer tasma n iensis. 
S. duodecimcostata. 
S. sp. 
Uyrtina(1). 
Martiniopsis subradiata. 
var. morris Li. 
Solenopsis sp. 
Cardioniorpha(l). 
Chceuomya mitcltelli. 
G. etheridyei. 
C. n.sp. 
EdmondiaO.) nobilissima. 
Aviculopecten squamuliferui 
A. profundus. 
Aviculopecten tenuicollis. 
A. sprenti. 
A. mitchelli(]x\\\). 
Di'Hopecten limceformis. 
D. subquinquelineatus. 
D. farleyensis. 
D. fittoni. 
Eurydesma cordata. 
var. ovale. 
Mceonia carinata. 
Pleurophorus. 
Pachydomus. 
Astartila corpulenta. 
Lamellibranch (new genus). 
Platyceras altum. 
Platyschisma. 
Ptycomjihalina trifilata. 
Couularia teuuistriata. 
C. inomata. 
Hyolithes lanceolatus. 
Goniatites micromphalus. 
Orthoceras, 2 spp. 
124 
GEOLOGY MAITLAND-BKANXTON DISTRICT, 
Perhaps the best outcrop of this is to be seen at Browne's 
Ravensfield Quarry, about three miles south-west from Farley 
Railway Station, where good collections can be obtained. 
These sandstones are followed by a series of sandy shales and 
mudstones, and the whole stage attains a thickness of from 800 
to 1,000 feet. The mudstones are, in general, light-coloured, but 
some bands are much impregnated with iron, and have become 
stained quite red. Fossils are very numerous, and good collec- 
tions can be obtained from both the road and railway-cuttings 
near Farley Railway Station. The following is a list of fossils 
from the Farley beds : — 
Dielasma sacculus. 
D. cymbcrformis. 
D. biundata. 
D. amygdala. 
D. inversa. 
D. hastata. 
Spirifer duodecimcostata. 
S. stokesi. 
S. tasmaniensis. 
Marl in top* is subradiata. 
var. morrisii. 
var. konincki. 
Productus cora var. farleyensis. 
P.fragilis. 
Rhynchonetla. 
Chonetes. 
Edmondia( I) aobilissima . 
Aviculopecten squamuliferus. 
A. tenuicollis. 
A. sprenti. 
A. englehardti. 
Aphanaia sp 
Mytilus bigsbyi. 
ModloJopsis. 
Masonia. 
Pleur ophorus sp. 
P. gregarius. 
Slutchburia farleyensis. 
Pachydomus. 
Platyschisma oculus. 
/'. rotundatum. 
( 'onularia inornata. 
Gon iatites micromphalus. 
Cardiorrtorpha g ryphio >de,s. 
In the upper 200 feet of these beds, Nucnlana waterhousei, 
which does not appear in the lower part, is of fairly frequent 
occurrence. 
An interesting and somewhat different vertical section is 
obtained in the vicinity of Pokolbin and Mt. View (Fig.2). 
More than 2,000 feet of the Lochinvar Stage have been over- 
lapped in this part. The lowest member of the stage here is a 
coarse conglomerate and sandstone, at least 600 feet thick, which 
BY A. B. WALKOM. 125 
is on about the same horizon as the Harper s Hill beds further 
north. Their thickness is rather difficult to estimate at all 
accurately on account of some doubtful faulting which occurs 
just north-east of Mt. View, but it is quite 600 feet, possibly 
more. This conglomerate was evidently deposited close to the 
old Carboniferous islands, the rocks of which have been described 
elsewhere.* The conglomerate is here followed by a develop- 
ment of basalt and tuft's, attaining a thickness of about 440 feet. 
The basalt contains numerous steam holes filled with such minerals 
as natrolite, datolite,f analcite, etc. The tuft's overlie the basalt, 
for the most part, and contain marine fossils. The position of 
the centre from which these basalts and tuff's were poured out, is 
doubtful. A couple of small patches of olivine basalt have been 
observed, quite isolated and in the midst of the acid volcanic 
rocks of the Carboniferous inlier of Mt. Bright. The most 
reasonable explanation of these occurrences seems to be, that 
they are old volcanic necks, and they may represent the old 
pipes from which this series was erupted. The tufts are followed 
by 650 feet of calcareous mudstones. One hundred and fifty 
feet above the base of these mudstones, there is a well-marked 
development of limestone containing numerous well-preserved 
Foraminifera, which have been described by Messrs. Chapman 
and Howchin.t 
This bed of limestone is on the same horizon as those men- 
tioned above(p.l22). Ostracods are found in these beds, as well 
as numerous marine fossils, e.g. 
Crinoid stems. Avictdopecten tenuicollis. 
Stenopora tasmaniensis. A. sprenti. 
Fenestella(1), 2 or 3 species. A. squamuliferus. 
l*rotoretepora. Deltopecten farleyeitsis. 
Spirifer tasmaniensis. Mceonia carinata. 
S. duodecimco statu Pachydomus, 3 or 4 species. 
Martiniopsis subradiata. Ptyco7nphalina(l). 
Aviadopecten mitchelli. 
* Journ. Proc. Royal Soc. N. S. Wales, 1911, xlv., pp.379-408. 
t C. Anderson, Rec. Austr. Museum, 1904, v., pp.127-130. 
X Mem. Geol. Survey N. 8. Wales Palaeontology, No. 14, 1905. 
126 GEOLOGY MAITLAND-BRANXTON DISTRICT, 
The other section of the Lower Marine Series to be described, 
is that obtained along the Eelah Road(Fig.3). Here, resting 
directly on Carboniferous rocks, there is a large development of 
mudstones and cherty shales. These attain a thickness of about 
1,570 feet, and there has been an overlapping of more than 2,000 
feet of strata below them. The mudstones are in the lower por- 
tion, and have been more easily eroded than the cherts, and so 
the former show few outcrops. The cherty shales, however, give 
good outcrops, and, near the top, a few marine fossils have been 
found. These include 
Crinoid stems. Eurydesma cordata. 
Spirifer tasmaniensis. Pachydomus. 
S. vespertilio. Platyschisma. 
These shales are followed by about 350 feet of massive sand- 
stone. This contains the equivalent of the Ravensfield Sand- 
stone, which has been quarried extensively at Comerford's Quarry. 
This thick development of sandstones is similar to that mentioned 
near Farley Railway Station, and, as in that case, it has been 
included with the Farley Stage. 
Above the sandstone, there is a thick series of basalt and tuffs. 
The basalt contains steamholes which have become filled with 
secondary minerals, such as calcite, natrolite, etc. The tuffs 
contain numerous fossils, amongst which are 
Fenestella(i) fossida. Aviculopecten mitchelli. 
Stenopora. A. tenuicollis. 
Spirifer tasmaniensis. Maionia carinata. 
Martiniopsis subradiata. Platyschisma oculus. 
Eurydesma cordata. 
In the areas previously described, the development of basalt 
and tuffs has been confined to the Lochinvar Stage, but here 
there seems to be no doubt but that the volcanic activity took 
place during the deposition of the rocks of the Farley Stage. 
This area must have been close to the shoreline at this time, as 
indicated, by the abundance, in the tuffs, of thick-shelled 
molluscs, which inhabit shallow, turbulent waters. These tuffs 
BY A. B. WALKOM. 
127 
are overlain by a series of a little over 300 feet of brownish 
sandstones, which are followed by the Greta Coal-Measures. 
The Greta Coal-Measukes. 
Professor David mapped the outcrop of these Measures, and 
gave numerous detailed sections of the coal-seams developed at 
many points along the outcrop. At the time of publication of 
his work,* however, very little information was obtainable about 
the development between Branxton and Pokolbin.f Since that 
time, a new colliery (the Rothbury Colliery) has been opened, 
and the coal prospected at 
three other points along the 
outcrop on Rothbury Estate. 
To the manager of this col- 
liery, Mr. Richard Thomas, 
Jr., I am indebted for most 
of the information contained 
in this section. The four 
separate points at which sec- 
tions of the seams have been 
measured are : 
(1.) Rothbury Colliery (on 
portion 26, Parish of Branx- 
ton). 
(2.) Where the outcrop 
crosses Black Creek. 
Conglomerate 
Coal 
Cla^ band 
Coal 
Dark shale floor 
n> Sect, 
7|3j Coal and Bands 
on of Upper Seam at Rothbury Collieries 
(3.) In portion 17, Parish of Rothbury. 
(4.) Where the outcrop crosses Rothbury Creek. 
(1.) Rothbury Colliery. — As seen from Plate viii.. the most 
complete section has been obtained at this point. Underneath a 
solid conglomerate-roof, there is a 7 feet 3 inches seam (see 
Fig.4). 
* Mem. Geol. Survey N. S. Wales, Geology, No.4, 1907. 
t Op. cit., pp. 138-140. 
128 
GEOLOGY MAITLAND-BRANXTON DISTRICT, 
Exposure to the atmosphere gives a yellowish tinge to the 
surface of the coal from this seam, and a small amount of sulphur 
is deposited in the 
"funnel 
Conglomerate, roof 
Coat. 
Clayey slialc banj 
Coal 
Clayey sU* UnJ Circular) 
Coal 
Bar.d lirrtqulir) 
Spiinf coal iyir. 
n1Vicli»r«i«ci-^»r) 
Coal 
in 
cracks. Although no 
crystalline pyrites has 
been observed, there is 
probably a small per- 
centage of it in the 
coal; and this sulphur 
has been set free during 
the oxidation of the 
pyrites to iron sulphate 
(FeS0 4 ). This seam 
has a floor of dark 
shale, and then, for a 
thickness of about 60 
feet, the strata are 
chiefly sandstones and a 
massive conglomerate. 
Then follows the best 
seam of this locality. 
Within a very short 
distance (only a few 
yards) of the outcrop, 
the seam is 12 feet 6 
inches thick; and, at 
170 yards in, along the 
tunnel, the seam has 
thickened to 14 feet 
4J inches, including 
bands (see Fig. 5). 
The lower ten feet of this seam is being worked at the Hoth- 
bury Colliery. The seam dips N.55°W. at 18^ °, and consists of 
hard, semibituminous coal. 
Dark sUe fl< 
Uf4i Coal and bands 
Ficj 6 becfion of coal seam at Rothburv Collieries 
BY A. B. WALKOM. 
129 
Analyses of some Coals from the Lower Split of the Main Greta 
Seam. 
Hygroscopic moisture 
Volatile hydrocarbons 
Fixed carbon 
Ash 
Sulohur 
Sp.Gr. 
Coke 
Lbs. 
by lib. coal 
VI. 
1-58 
42 72 
50 30 
5 40 
873 
1-272 
55-70 
13 5 
i. Rothbury Colleries* (No. 1 sample). Coke fairly swollen, firm and 
lustrous. Ash, grey in colour; semigranular. 
ii. Rothbury Colleries* (No. 2 sample). Coke fairly swollen, firm and 
lustrous. Ash grey; semigranular. 
iii. Ebbw Main, Greta, f Bands picked out; coke fairly swollen, firm and 
lustrous. Ash buff-coloured; semigranular. 
iv. Stanford Merthyr.t Coke slightly swollen, firm and lustrous. Ash 
buff-coloured; semigranular. 
v. Pelaw Main.§ Coke well swollen, firm and lustrous. Ash light reddish 
tinge; semigranular. 
vi. Hebburn.H Coke fairly swollen, firm and lustrous. Ash pink; semi- 
granular. 
The above table gives analyses of two samples of coal from 
the Rothbury Collieries; and analyses, for comparison, from the 
same seam in four other collieries. The Rothbury coal is very 
suitable for gasmaking and steaming, and also makes a good coal 
for household purposes. It gives only a small percentage of 
small coal, and is a good coal for shipment, as it stands handling 
well. 
This seam has a floor of dark shale, and the sandstone and 
conglomerate have been proved for about 20 to 24 feet below. 
Then there is a gap of approximately 20 feet, in which the strata 
* Analyses kindly supplied by Mr. Richard Thomas, Jr., Manager, 
t E. F. Pittmau, " The Coal Resources of New South Wales." Geological 
Survey of N. S. Wales, 1912, p.68. 
X Idem, p. 75. § Idem, p. 73. || Idem, p. 69. 
10 
130 
GEOLOGY MAITLAND-BRANXTON DISTRICT, 
Shaf< 
sp 
I 6 
r^%?) 
have not been touched by prospecting shafts, but there is little 
doubt that this portion is composed of sandstone and conglom- 
erate. Below this, the section is given in a shaft some 185 feet 
east of the main tunnel mouth. The section of this shaft is(Fig.G): 
It shows a couple of weath- 
ered seams of coal, and a 
band of about one foot of 
kerosene-shale. In this lower 
part of the section, there is a 
sprinkling of small crystals of 
pyrites through the shale and 
sandstone, and also through 
the two feet of " Black stone" 
at the bottom. The coal 
shown by the shaft is very 
weathered, and of no use; but 
it is, of course, possible that, 
further in from the outcrop, 
it may lose its weathered char- 
acter. The greyish, shaly 
sandstone, between the seams, 
contains fairly abundant 
plant-remains, amongst which 
Glossopteris is the most pro- 
minent; some of the stems of 
these plants are replaced by 
pyrites. 
(2.)Black Creek.— At Black 
Creek, about one mile south 
Surface so.t 
FineConqlomerati. 
Coarser conglomerate 
Soft brownith Sandstone. 
Patch o< conglomerate. 
Soft brownish sandstone 
Coal (weathered! Shaly at Top 
Grtu sandstone (wiiVbinddtwno-tlW} 
(.p^nTous) 
Coal (w&alWed ^ 
Grey shaly sandstone (p^nfous^ 
Conglomerate « sandstone 
Shale 
Conglomerate 
Shale 
Kerosene shale 
Black stone (pyntou%) 
Greyish shale 
of the Rothbury Collieries, f^ 6 S*dio« 'of Bottom Seams at RotMwn, C.Uien, 
two seams can be seen, corres- 
ponding to the two upper ones at the first locality. The top 
one of these two seams has not been prospected, but a tunnel 
in the lower one revealed the following section(Fig.7, p. 131). 
It was near the position of this tunnel that Professor David 
had a shaft put down some years ago,* and obtained 9 feet, 9 
* Op. cit., p. 139. 
BY A. B. WALKOM. 
131 
inches of coal and bands, 
thickness of coal and bands 
(11 feet, Oh inch), thus bear- 
ing out Professor David's 
opinion that the seam, being 
somewhat perished in his 
shaft, would probably be 
found to have a greater 
thickness.* There is a small 
band of white clay just be- 
low the top seam. The two 
seams at this point are about 
40 feet apart, and their dip 
is N.47°W. at 24°. 
(3.) Portion 17, Parish of 
Rothbury. - A small tunnel 
has been driven in portion 
17, Parish of Rothbury, 
(about 1 J miles south of the 
Black Creek tunnel), and a 
seam (with band) of 6 feet, 
2 inches struck, giving the "1 7 
following section (Fig. 8): — 
section orives a greater 
Con^lomeraTt roof 
Coal (Somewhat soft- due to 
proiimitj Tocurface) 
Grey shale band vanes fromi;' h It" 
| |/o| Coal 
J Splint coil 
1-10 Coal 
\ j i 
! ^ "enslied coal parting 
|||tJ Coal 
Knshed coal paiTinq 
Coal 
Bark shale floor 
II Oil Coal' and bands 
Section of Seam at Black Creek 
Tunnel 
Conajomerare 
Coal 
CUyband (yellow) 
Coal 
Dark shale floor 
6 2. Coal * bands 
F^8 Section of Upper Seam nR>rTionl7 ftr RoTVbury, 
This seam is the 
equivalent of the top" 
seam further north at 
the Rothbury Colliery. 
It does not quite attain 
the thickness of that 
seam, but, when ex- 
posed to the weather, 
the same yellow stain 
and sulphur-deposit are 
noted as at the Col- 
liery. There is also a 
slight smell of H^S in 
* Op. cit., p 140. 
132 
GEOLOGY MAITLAND-BRANXTON DISTRICT, 
Shaft 
o! Si 
Surface clayey sovl 
this old tunnel. These phenomena denote the presence of a small 
amount of pyrites in the coal. 
(4.) Rothbury Creek. — Three-quarters of a mile further south, 
the outcrop crosses the Rothbury Creek. Here Professor David 
noted the outcrop of a coal-seam in the creek. f When I visited 
the spot, the outcrop in the creek was under water, but a shaft 
has been sunk for 39 feet, on the bank a few yards away, of 
which the following is a section(Fig.9): — 
It will be noted 
that the top bound- 
ary of the seam is 
horizontal, instead 
of dipping parallel 
to the bottom -edge. 
This indicates that 
the seam has been 
eroded somewhat. 
That this is so, is 
further indicated by 
the fact that, in the 
creek, there is a solid 
conglomerate dip 
ping conformably 
just above the seam; 
while, in the shaft, 
there is no trace of 
the solid conglomer- 
ate, but only surface- 
sand and clayey soil. 
The seam dips N.60 Q 
W. at 45°, and has a 
thickness of at least 
21 feet, and as the 
&& 
BrwW bituminous coal 
Carbonaceous shale 
Briqhr totj. miM.rt coal 
Coal * binds 
BasT* fif«cl»y 
SandsTone. 
Fi, 9 Se 
TrueThickness of Seam abT2lfr 
cTion of Seam on bank of Rothbury Ck 
surface has been somewhat eroded, the thickness is probably some, 
what more. It is a bright, bituminous coal of good quality, and 
Op. Ht., p. 140. 
BY A. B. WALKOM. 133 
apparently does not deteriorate readily on exposure, as the shaft 
had been made over two years at the time of my visit, and the 
coal, which had been lying about for that time, showed only a 
slight amount of surface-discolouration; and when broken open, 
was as bright and hard as coal freshly taken out. About 75 
yards up the creek, there is an outcrop of another seam, but the 
water was too high for me to see it. However, Mr. R. Thomas, 
Jr., informed me that he had got specimens of coal in situ at 
that point, when the creek had been drier. At the point in the 
creek where this outcrop occurs, the boulders in the creek-bed 
are all coated black, and there is a very strong smell of H 2 8. 
Plate viii. is a series of comparative vertical sections of the 
various seams just described. On comparison with section No. 
x,* accompanying Professor David's Memoir, there seems little 
doubt but that the top seam, in each case, represents the upper 
split in the main Greta seam. This is further confirmed by the 
presence of pyrites, which is indicated in these seams. The lower 
split of the main Greta seam appears to have become further 
split between Kothbury Creek and Black Creek, and a bed of 
conglomerate and sandstone, some 60 feet thick, is developed 
between the two parts. The 14 feet, 4i inches seam at the 
Kothbury Colliery, and the 11 feet, 0^ inch seam at Black Creek, 
represent the top part of this lower split; and the lowest seams at 
Kothbury Colliery represent minor splits of the bottom-part of 
the lower split. The 21 feet seam at Kothbury Creek probably 
represents the whole of the lower split of the main Greta seam. 
Summary of Greta Coal-Measures in this district. 
The main Greta seam, or part of it, has been prospected in 
four places, and the seam is split as at other localities. 
In each of the four localities, the upper split of the main 
Greta seam has been struck. 
The lower split seems to be entire at Rothbury Creek, but 
splits further to the north. 
* Section No.x is a comparative series of vertical sections of the Greta 
coal-seams. 
134 GEOLOGY MAITLAND-BRANXTON DISTRICT, 
The upper split contains a small amount of pyrites; in the top 
part of the lower split, no trace of this mineral has been observed; 
in the sandstone and " black-stone " associated with the bottom 
part of the lower split, there is a small percentage of pyrites. 
The dips are in directions N.47°W. to N.60°W., and increase 
in amount as they get further south, i.e., as they approach nearer 
to the eastern branch of the Elderslee fault. The baud of con- 
glomerate, between the two splits, appears to thicken very con- 
siderably towards the south. 
The amount of perishing of the seams near the surface does 
not appear to be so great here as in the eastern and southern 
portions of the Greta Coal- Measures outcrop. 
Upper Marine Series. 
The Upper Marine Series, in the Hunter River District, 
occupies a much larger and more widely scattered area than the 
Lower Marine Series, and, for that reason, could not be studied 
in as much detail as the latter, in a comparatively short time. 
Examination of a number of the most typical exposures, how- 
ever, enables one to form a fairly accurate estimate of the 
succession. 
Whereas sedimentation in Lower Marine time was inter- 
rupted at frequent intervals by outbreaks of volcanic activity, in 
the Upper Marine of this district there were no such volcanic 
outbursts, and the sedimentation was uninterrupted. It must 
be remembered, however, that this is not true for other areas of 
Upper Marine sedimentation, e.g. in the South Coast District, 
there is abundant evidence of volcanic activity in Upper Marine 
time,* 
The Upper Marine Series has been divided into three stages, 
namely, the Branxton, Muree, and Crinoidal Stages, by Professor 
David, f 
* Jaquet, Card and Harper, Rec. Geol. Surv. N. S. Wales, 1905, viii., 
Pt.l.— (Jard and Jaquet, Rec. Geol. Surv. N. S. Wales, 1903, vii., Pt.3. 
iOp. cit., p. 3 19. 
BY A. B. WALKOM. 
135 
CRINOIOAL 
STAGE 
ISOO -30OO 
Ml/REE 
STAGE 
The lowest (Branxton) stage is from 3,000 to 3,200 feet thick, 
and follows immediately on the Greta Coal-Measures. This stage 
might be divided into two parts, (1) lower, with a thickness of 
about 1,400 feet; and (2) upper, 1,600 to 1,800 feet thick. The 
lower part consists of 
hard, massive, white 
to brown sandstone, 
often passing into 
conglomerate. In the 
lower 900 ft, the sand- 
stone is often con- 
siderably iron-stained , 
and contains occa- 
sional bands of iron- 
stone. At 900 feet 
from the base, there 
is a bed about 100 feet 
thick, of bluish-grey 
to brown mudstone, 
in which Mytilus and 
Aphanaia&re common. Branxton 
Above this, there is a 3ooo. izoo 
very hard, white sand- 
stone, which forms a 
prominent outcrop 
near Black Creek, 
south of the railway 
line just west of 
Branxton. This par- 
ticular bed is about 
200 feet thick, and its 
outcrop is shown on the map. It contains a few marine fossils 
(e.g., Spirifer, Martiniopsis, and Aviculopecten), and numerous 
remains of plant-stems. 
The remainder of this substage consists of more brownish 
sandstones. Marine fossils occur abundantly in this lower part 
of the Branxton Stage, and, where conditions were favourable, 
Chtrti Shjlt, 
Mostly sh*ly mvdslont* 
b&ndstontt tni Conqfomt/dTi' 
Fo.-aminiferal Morixo" 
Sandstone j Jn( j 
<Jlca rtom ►nud»ron«j 
Brownish Sandstones 
Hard mMt Sandstone 
6ro*nish Mudsfbne 
Massive Sandstone 
and Conglomerate 
GiCTA COU 
Fig 10. — Vertical Section of the Upper Marine 
Series. 
136 
GEOLOGY MAITLAXD-HRANXTON DISTRICT, 
they approach to within a few feet of the top seam of the Greta 
Coal- Measures. The following is a list of the fossils from this 
substage : — 
Zaphrent is robusta. 
Palcmster clarkei. 
Protoretepora amp! a . 
FenestettaCl )fossula. 
Dielasma inversa. 
D. biundata, 
D. hastata. 
Spirifer convoluta. 
S. vespertilio. 
S. avicula. 
S. tasmaniensis. 
S. duodecimcostata. 
S. strzeleckii. 
Martiniopsis oviformis 
M. subradiata. 
var. transversa. 
var. morrisii. 
Productus brachythcerus. 
Strophalos la jukesi. 
(Jhanomya etheridgei. 
C. undata. 
A viculopecten englehardt i, 
A. ponderosus. 
A. tenuicol/is. 
A sp. 
Deltopecten farleyensis. 
D. leniusculus. 
D. sp. (juv.). 
8emiiiula(\). 
Mceouia carinata. 
M. valida. 
Stutchburia costata. 
Astartila polita. 
Leptodomus duplicicosta. 
Plaiyschisma oculus. 
Goniatites micromphalus. 
The upper half of the Branxton Stage is composed of sand- 
stones and calcareous mudstones, with frequent shaly bands. 
They contain numerous glacial erratics, which sometimes attain 
a very large size, some of them being over two tons in weight. 
These beds are exceedingly rich in marine fossils, perhaps the 
most abundant being members of the Fenestellidae(?). In them, 
at about 2,300 feet from the base of the Branxton Stage, occurs 
a limestone-horizon which contains numerous well-preserved 
Foraminifera.* This upper part is also characterised by an 
abundance of Trachypora wilkinsoni, which is only found 
sparingly on any other horizon of the Upper Marine, and is 
extremely scarce in the Lower Marine. Good outcrops of the 
* Chapman and Howchin, "Monograph of the Foraminifera of the 
Permo-Carboniferous limestones of N. 8. Wales." Mem. Geol. Surv. N. S. 
Wales, Pal., No. 14, 1905. 
BY A. B. WALKOM. 
137 
Branxton Stage can be seen almost anywhere, where it is shown 
on the map. A good occurrence of glacial beds has been exposed 
by the new road-cutting on the Branxton to Elderslee road, 
just before it reaches the Elderslee Bridge over the Hunter 
River. The following is a list of the fossils from this upper part 
of the Branxton Stage : — 
Zaphrentis robusta 
Crinoid stems. 
Trachypora wi/ki)>son i. 
Stenopora. 
Protoretepora ampin. 
P. konincki. 
Fe?iestella(1) intemata. 
F. fossula. 
F. plicatula. 
Spirifer convoluta. 
S. strzeleckii. 
S. vesper tilio. 
S. stokesi. 
S. tasmaniensis. 
S. duodecimcostata. 
S. sp. 
Mart i niops i s ov [form is. 
M. subradiata. 
var. konincki. 
Productus brachythcBrus. 
Strophalosia jnkesi. 
S. yerardi. 
S. clarkei. 
Ghcenomya ethe r idge i . 
Merismopterid. 
Couocardium australe. 
Aviculopecten ten uicollis. 
Deltopecten jittoni. 
D. leniusculus. 
Aphanaia gigantea. 
Mceonia carinata. 
Pleurophorus morrisii. 
Stutchburia costata. 
S. compressa. 
Platyschisma rota ndatum. 
Conularia. 
Hyolithes lanceolatus. 
Gonial ites m icromphalus. 
The upper limit of the Branxton Stage is well-defined by the 
Bolwarra Conglomerate (" Muree Rock"), which forms the base 
of the Muree Stage. This is a massive conglomerate, on which 
very little grass or vegetation of any kind will grow, and which 
forms a bold, bare outcrop, very useful indeed fur purposes of 
geological mapping. This conglomerate passes upwards to a hard, 
massive, somewhat calcareous sandstone, and the whole Stage 
attains a thickness of about 400 feet. Both the conglomerate 
and the succeeding sandstone contain numerous marine fossils, 
there being a most remarkable abundance, in places, of the small 
138 GEOLOGY MAITLAND-BRANXTON DISTRICT, 
brachiopod, Strophalosia. The following is a list of fossils from 
the M uree Stage : — 
Zaphrentis phymatoides. Spirifer stutchburii. 
Phialocrinus princeps. S. duodecimcostata. 
ArchcBOcidaris. Martiniopsis cyrtiformis. 
Stenopora crin ta. M. oviformis. 
Vroloretepora. Strophalosia clarkei. 
Dielasma biundata. S. gerardi. 
D. amygdala. Conocardium australe. 
D. cymboeformis. Deltopecten leniusculus. 
D. hastata. Mazonia fragilis. 
Productus brachytharus. M. carinata. 
Spirifer convoluta. Entomi* jonesi. 
S. clarkei. 
One of the best exposures of this Stage is in the vicinity of 
Mt. Vincent, just east of Mr. Charles Wyndham's residence at 
Wollong, at the place known as " Bow Wow." Here the Muree 
Beds weather into large caves or rock-shelters, where numerous 
fossils can easily be obtained. 
Above the Muree Stage comes the Crinoidal Stage. This 
varies very considerably in thickness in places, having a minimum 
of about 1,500 feet, and a maximum of from 3,000 to 4,000 feet. 
For the most part, it consists of fairly soft shales and mudstones. 
These weather fairly readily, and in this lies the reason for the 
development of some of the extensive alluvial Hats, e.g., along the 
course of the Mulbring or Wallis Creek. For the same reason, 
good outcrops are not of as frequent occurrence as they are in 
the more resistant beds. They can be seen outcropping, how- 
ever, near Mt. Vincent, and in the railway-cuttings and creeks 
to the west and south of Belford. In places, they contain small 
and large erratics; e.g., where the old line of northern road 
crosses a small creek in portion 61, Parish of Rothbury, there are 
numerous, small erratics of such rocks as aplite, quartz-porphyry, 
quartzite, and fine-grained, black, basaltic rocks. A little 
further east, where the same road crosses Jump Up Creek, there 
are a number of large erratics, an aplitic one reaching quite three 
feet in diameter, and one about the same size, of coarse granite, 
BY A. B. WALKOM. 139 
containing grains up to nearly an inch long. These erratics are 
imbedded in brownish, calcareous mudstones, which also contain 
marine fossils. In this district, in the Crinoidal Shales there are 
two horizons, on which numerous specimens of the pseudomorph 
Glendonite occur, namely, (1) about 200 feet above the base (out- 
crop at Glendon), and (2) about 700 to 1,000 feet above the base 
(outcrops at Mt. Vincent and Singleton Railway Bridge). This 
stage terminates upwards in a series of hard, cherty shales, which 
have been quarried for road-metal, known as the Chsenomya 
beds. These, as may be surmised from the name, contain large 
numbers of the fossil Ghonnomya; they also contain obscure casts 
of radiolaria. These Chaenomya beds attain a thickness of 150 
to 200 feet. The following is a list of fossils from the Crinoidal 
Stage : — 
Zaphrentis phijmatoides. Strophcdosia. 
Archce.ocidaris, sp.ind. C hamomya etheridgei. 
Tribrachiocriuus corrugatus. G. audax. 
titenopora crinita. C. mitchelli. 
Protoretepora. C. sp. 
Fenestella{ I). Deltopecten fittoni. 
Spirifer convoluta. Eurydesma hobartense. 
6'. dtwdecimcostata. Mmonia carinata. 
Martin iopsis subradiata. Goniatites micromphalus. 
var. morrisii. 
Notes on the Permo-Carboniferous Pal^ogeocjraphy in 
New South Wales. 
During almost a year's study of the Permo-Carboniferous rocks 
of Eastern Australia in general, and New South Wales in par- 
ticular, some facts with regard to^ the palseogeography have 
become apparent, which are contrary to the ideas generally held. 
This is especially so with the distribution of land and sea in 
New South Wales. It has generally been held that, in Permo- 
Carboniferous time, New England and north-eastern New South 
Wales were cut off from the main continental mass, and that 
there was a water-connection with Queensland, to the west of 
New England. Professor David expressed this view recently in 
140 GEOLOGY MAITLAND-BRANXTON DISTRICT, 
his Presidential Address to the Royal Society of New South 
Wales, thus : " At this time [Permo-Carboniferous], Eastern 
Australia was probably, from New England to Townsville, isolated 
from the portion lying further to the west, first by the Permo- 
Carboniferous sea, and later by the lakes and swamps of that 
period."* 
The following notes attempt to show the distribution of land 
and sea in New South Wales in Permo-Carboniferous time, as 
suggested bv the results obtained bv recent workers in the 
North-eastern portion of the State, particularly Mr. J. E. Carne, 
Professor Woolnough, and Mr. E. C. Andrews. 
The ideas put forward are by no means to be regarded as final 
solutions of the problems, my chief reason for bringing them 
forward here being that they may serve as something tangible, 
to be modified as further information is brought to light. A 
very important area in connection with this subject, and one 
which is not well known at present, is that between the Manning 
and Clarence Rivers. When the various Palaeozoic formations 
in this area have been determined and mapped correctly, it is 
probable that a number of modifications will have to be made in 
the maps presented here. 
The results of recent work in Northern New England mostly 
show that the extensive series of shales and slates there, are of 
Permo-Carboniferous age,t and that the great granitic masses 
have intruded the Lower Marine rocks, and are thus of late 
Permo-Carboniferous or even Mesozoic age. These two results 
point to the fact, that the greater part of what is now northern 
New England, was under water in Lower Marine time. Other 
*Journ. Proc. Royal Soc. N. S. Wales, 1911, p.54. 
t With regard to the slates in the neighbourhood of Tingha, two recent 
workers do not agree. Mr. L. A. Cotton[8] regards them as being older 
than Permo-Carboniferous, and similar to the Ordovician slates of Berridale 
and Tallong. Mr. J. E. Came[7] puts them down as Permo-Carboniferous, 
evidently on account of their lithologic similarity to occurrences further 
north, in which he found Permo-Carboniferous fossils. Which of these 
views may be correct, however, does not affect these notes to any great 
extent, as it would only mean a small alteration in the position of the 
western limit of the Lower Marine Sea. 
BY A. B. WALKOM. 141 
authors have noted deposits of Lower Marine age at a number of 
localities in that part of New South Wales east of New England, 
and north of the Hunter River. These localities are River- 
tree[3], Drake[3], Joagla Falls (twenty miles east of Hillgrove)[l], 
near Kempsey[16], Wauchope, Kendall[6], and between Taree and 
VVingham[16]. These are all the known occurrences of undoubted 
Lower Marine rocks in New South Wales, outside those in the 
Maitland districttll], and near Mount Tangorin[lli 17]. Lower 
Marine fossils have also been found just over the Queensland 
border, six or seven miles west of Warwick. The distribution of 
these occurrences is shown on the map( Plate x.), and they seem to 
indicate that most of the north-eastern part of New South Wales 
was covered by the sea in Lower Marine time. The probable 
western limit of this sea has been drawn on the map. The faunas 
which exist at these occurrences, and the type of rocks developed, 
mostly indicate a relatively shallow sea, and also that the 
deposits were laid down not far from land. The faunas include 
typically such genera as Spirifer, Martiniopsis, Eurydesma, 
Aviculopecten, Deltopecten , Pachydomus, Platyschisma, etc. Sand- 
stones and sandy mudstones are the most frequent and charac- 
teristic types of deposit; conglomerates are often developed, while 
limestones are comparatively scarce except in the Kempsey dis- 
trict. In the most northern part, the rocks have been altered 
subsequently, and now consist chiefly of slates. 
The thickness of the strata which were deposited, shows that 
there must have been considerable high land not far away. One 
of the most prominent features of the land was a high range 
running approximately N.N.W., in the present Tamworth dis- 
trict, composed of rocks of Devonian and Carboniferous age. 
This range is probably responsible for the eastward bulge in the 
old coast-line towards Kempsey. 
Parts of the district between the Macleay and Clarence Rivers, 
as well as the extreme north-east corner of New South Wales, 
are composed of old rocks, which are generally believed to be 
older than Permo-Carboniferous, but no fossils have been found 
in them. It seems more than probable, however, that this view 
is correct, and, therefore, a good deal of this area was probably a 
142 GEOLOGY MAITLAND-BRANXTON DISTRICT, 
land-area during Permo Carboniferous time. This leaves us with 
two alternatives as to the position of the Lower Marine Sea, and 
only detailed mapping of the areas mentioned can finally decide 
which is the correct view. These alternatives are, (1) that a 
land-mass constituted the north-eastern corner of New South 
Wales, and this was cut off from the mainland by a long narrow 
sea, the western coast of which was probably that shown on the 
map( Plate x.); or (2), that there was a long narrow peninsula, 
probably joined to the mainland somewhere between the Macleay 
River and Tnverell, running in a general north-easterly direction 
to the Tweed River district, and that the Lower Marine rocks of 
northern New England and Drake were deposited in a large bay 
connected with the ocean on its northern side. Of these two 
alternative views, the former seems, to me, to be the more 
probable. 
Towards the close of Lower Marine time, a slow pushing force 
began to make itself felt from a direction about E. by N. This 
may perhaps have been the first expression of the great move- 
ments which culminated eventually in the extensive granitic 
intrusions into the Permo-Carboniferous strata of New England. 
The result of this movement, pushing against the mainland to 
the west, was to elevate a belt roughly parallel to the old coast- 
line, and to depress somewhat the belt in between this elevated 
belt and the mainland.* The effect of this was the production 
of a land-zone extending in an approximately S. by E. direction 
from northern New England, and the depression of a zone 
between this and the mainland. The amount of depression, how- 
ever, was not sufficient to submerge the old N.N.W. mountain 
range of Devonian and Carboniferous rocks near Tamworth, and 
this divided the submerged zone in two. Thus, there were pro- 
duced relatively long and narrow inland depressions, in which 
the Greta Coal-Measures were deposited(Plate xi.). The presence 
* This is somewhat the same effect produced by placing a sheet of paper 
flat ou a table, with one end against a fixed object, and pushing the other 
end towards the fixed object. The first part of the paper to be elevated 
is a belt somewhere about the middle of the sheet, and parallel to the edge 
which is against the fixed object. 
BY A. B. WALKOM. 143 
of the N.N.W. mountain range just mentioned, accounts for the 
absence of the Greta Coal-Measures between Wingen and 
Ashford. 
In the Drake district, some of the marine deposits have a 
fauna which consists of a mixture of Lower Marine and Upper 
Marine types, and it seems almost certain that, during the time 
of deposition of the Greta Coal-Measures in the inland basins, 
marine sedimentation was going on in this area. This means 
that there was continuous marine sedimentation from Lower 
Marine into Upper Marine time in the Drake area. 
After the deposition of the Greta Coal-Measures, the sea broke 
through the eastern land-barrier in its southern part, and sub- 
merged an area extending some distance north of Gunnedah, 
bounded on the west by the older rocks (Devonian, Silurian, and 
Ordovician) that we see at Marulan, Mt. Lambie, Bathurst, Wel- 
lington, etc. The northern shore of this arm of the sea was 
probably somewhere in the neighbourhood of the Peel Range and 
the Manning River, and the land for some distance north of the 
Manning seems to have extended further to the east than the 
present coastline. The Drake district was also submerged at 
this time, and the coastline appears to have been something like 
that suggested on the map( Plate xii.). 
At the close of Upper Marine time, the pushing force once 
more made itself felt, and the result was that once again a land- 
barrier was raised, and another series of inland depressions 
formed. In New South Wales, the great inland basin in which 
the Upper Coal-Measures were laid down, was approximately as 
shown in Plate xiii., and it is probable that here, for the first 
time, there was direct water-communication from the Hunter 
River Basin to Queensland west of New England. 
The land, at this time, to the east of the central part of the 
present coastline, was not far away, and must have been of some 
considerable height, as proved by the coarse conglomerates with 
diagonal bedding, dipping strongly inland, which Professor David 
has described at New Lambton and Red Head.* 
* Mem. Geol. Surv. N. S. Wales, Geology, No.4, pp.20 aud 41. 
144 GEOLOGY MAITLAND-BRANXTON DISTRICT, 
The Permo-Carboniferous was closed by the great granitic 
intrusions of New England and the great earth-movements which 
resulted in the production of the great Lochinvar Dome, the 
central part of which was raised through at least 6,000 feet.f 
In conclusion, I wish to express my gratitude to Professor 
David for the interest he has always taken in this work, and for 
his willingness at all times to advise and help me in any way 
possible; also to Mr. W. S. Dun, by whose advice and assistance 
my work was often rendered easier than would otherwise have 
been the case, I wish to tender my most sincere thanks. 
BIBLIOGRAPHY FOR PAL^OGEOGRAPHY. 
1. Anderson, W.— Ann. Rept. Dept. Mines N. S. Wales, 1888, p. 190. 
2. Andrews, E. C— " The Geology of the New England Plateau," Part ii. 
Rec. Geol. Surv. N. S. Wales, viii., 1905, p. 108. 
3. "Report on Drake Gold and Copper Field." Dept. 
Mines and Agriculture N. S. Wales, Mineral Resources No. 12, 
1908. 
4. Benson, W. N. — A preliminary Account of the Geology of the Nundle 
District, near Tamworth. Report Aust. Assocn. Advancement of 
Science, 1911, p. 100. 
5.Carne, J. E. — "Kerosene Shale Deposits of N. S. Wales. " Mem. 
Geol. Surv. N. S. Wales, Geology, No. 3, 1903. 
6. "The Lithgow or Western Coalfield." Mem. Geol. 
Surv. N. S. Wales, Geology, No.6, 1907. 
7. " The Tin-mining Industry of N. S. Wales." Dept. of 
Mines N.S.W., Mineral Resources, No. 14, 1911. 
8.Cotton, L. A.— Proc. Linn. Soc. N. S. Wales, xxxiv., 1909, p. 738. 
9. David, T. \V. E. — "Geology -of the Vegetable Creek Tin-mining Field." 
Mem. Geol. Surv. N. S. Wales, Geology, No.l, 1887. 
10. Presidential Address, Proc. Linn. Soc. N. S. Wales, 
1893. 
11. "Geology of the Hunter River Coal Measures, N. S. 
Wales." Mem. Geol. Surv. N. S. Wales, Geology, No.4, 1907. 
12. " Notes on some of the chief Tectonic Lines of Aus- 
tralia." Journ. Proc. Royal Soc. N. S. Wales, xlv.(1911). 
13. Ditn, W. S. — " Stratigraphical Notes: Permo-Carboniferous Beds in 
the Kempsey District." Rec. Geol. Surv. N. S. Wales, v., p. 180. 
tOp. cit. p. 339. 
BY A. B. WALKOM. 1 45 
14.Jensen, H.I. — "The Building of Eastern Australia." Proc. Royal 
Soc. Queensland, xxiii., 1912, p. 149. 
15-Pittman, E. F.— Rec. Geol. Surv. N. S. Wales, v., (1896-1898), pp.26 30. 
16- Woolnough, W. G. — "Preliminary Note on the Geology of the 
Kempsey District." Journ. Proc. Royal Soc. N. S. Wales, xlv., 
(1911), p.159. 
17. Walkom, A. B. — " Geology of the Permo-Carboniferous System the in 
Glendonbrook District near Singleton." Proc. Linn. Soc. N. S. 
Wales, 1913 ? p. 146. 
EXPLANATION OF PLATES VIII. -XIII. 
Plate viii. 
Comparative Series of Sections of Greta Coal-Seams south of Branxton. 
Plate ix. 
Geological Map of Part of the Hunter River District, taken from the Map 
accompanying Memoir of the Geological Survey of New South 
Wales, No. 4; with Additions by A. B. Walkom, B.Sc. 
Plate x. 
Map showing approximately the Western Limit of the Lower Marine Sea 
in New South Wales. 
Plate xi. 
Map showing approximately the Distribution of the land and sea during 
the deposition of the Greta Coal-Measures in New South Wales. 
Plate xii. 
Map showing approximately the extent of the Upper Marine Sea in New 
South Wales. 
Plate xiii. 
Map showing approximately the extent of the inland sea, in which were 
deposited the Upper Coal-Measures. 
11