Hawke’s Bay forearc basin (eastern North Island, New Zealand): Stratigraphy, biostratigraphy, chronology, geological maps and paleogeography

Abstract

This report documents the results of analysis of the late Neogene forearc basin in central Hawke’s Bay, eastern North Island (Hikurangi subduction margin), New Zealand. This analysis is based on new 1:50,000-scale geological maps of the succession exposed in outcrop in central Hawke’s Bay, which are reproduced here as six sheets (Enclosures 3 & 4). The analysis builds on detailed stratigraphic and facies descriptions of the Late Miocene (Tongaporutuan) to Pleistocene (Castlecliffian) basin fill (see also Bland et al. 2007; Kamp et al. 2008), its biostratigraphy and chronology, which are integrated here. The history of Late Neogene basin development is summarised in a series of paleogeographic maps.