A REASSESSMENT OF ABRUPTLY FANNING BED DIPS ON THE NORTHWESTERN LIMB OF THE HUANGARUA SYNCLINE, WAIRARAPA, NEW-ZEALAND

Trench and outcrop data are used to reinterpret abruptly fanning bed d ips described by Lamb & Vella in Pleistocene conglomerates on the nort hwestern limb of the Huangarua Syncline, Wairarapa. These data indicat e that c. 70% (c. 40 degrees) of the reported change in bed dip occurs across an angular unconformity. The conglomerate above the unconformi ty, which is significantly younger than the underlying lower Te Muna F ormation (c. less than or equal to 1.6 Ma), is correlated with the Ahi aruhe Formation (c. 0.015-0.5 Ma). Pleistocene stratigraphy was influe nced by discontinuous sedimentation across the entire northwestern lim b of the syncline during folding.