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105-617: The Waitangitāhuna River (formerly called the Waitangitaona River ) are two rivers in the West Coast region of New Zealand's South Island . It was a single river until an avulsion in March 1967, when it became two rivers. Since then, the southern portion of the river has flowed into Lake Wahapo , while the northern section discharges into the Tasman Sea north of Ōkārito Lagoon . In 2018,

210-431: A 100 kyr Milankovitch cycle , and so each cyclothem represents a cycle of sea level fall and rise over a 100 kyr period. Coal forms when organic matter builds up in waterlogged, anoxic swamps, known as peat mires, and is then buried, compressing the peat into coal. The majority of Earth's coal deposits were formed during the late Carboniferous and early Permian. The plants from which they formed contributed to changes in

315-481: A defined GSSP. The fusulinid Aljutovella aljutovica can be used to define the base of the Moscovian across the northern and eastern margins of Pangea, however, it is restricted in geographic area, which means it cannot be used for global correlations. The first appearance of the conodonts Declinognathodus donetzianus or Idiognathoides postsulcatus have been proposed as a boundary marking species and potential sites in

420-564: A formalised Carboniferous unit by William Conybeare and William Phillips in 1822 and then into the Carboniferous System by Phillips in 1835. The Old Red Sandstone was later considered Devonian in age. The similarity in successions between the British Isles and Western Europe led to the development of a common European timescale with the Carboniferous System divided into the lower Dinantian , dominated by carbonate deposition and

525-460: A generally northern direction. A flood in March 1967 caused an avulsion of the river, with the river's flow being redirected across an ancient alluvial fan into Lake Wahapo, 6 kilometres (3.7 mi) from its previous course. Previously the river had continued flowing north, between the Waitangiroto and Whataroa Rivers , with all three rivers emptying into the same lagoon with a single channel to

630-467: A major evolutionary radiation during the late Carboniferous. Vast swaths of forests and swamps covered the land, which eventually became the coal beds characteristic of the Carboniferous stratigraphy evident today. The later half of the period experienced glaciations , low sea level, and mountain building as the continents collided to form Pangaea . A minor marine and terrestrial extinction event,

735-431: A shallow, tropical seaway which stretched from Southern California to Alaska. The boundary is within a cyclothem sequence of transgressive limestones and fine sandstones , and regressive mudstones and brecciated limestones. The Moscovian Stage is named after shallow marine limestones and colourful clays found around Moscow, Russia. It was first introduced by Sergei Nikitin in 1890. The Moscovian currently lacks

840-625: A similar stratigraphy but divided it into two systems rather than one. These are the lower carbonate-rich sequence of the Mississippian System and the upper siliciclastic and coal-rich sequence of the Pennsylvanian . The United States Geological Survey officially recognised these two systems in 1953. In Russia, in the 1840s British and Russian geologists divided the Carboniferous into the Lower, Middle and Upper series based on Russian sequences. In

945-451: A single sedimentary cycle, with an erosional surface at its base. Whilst individual cyclothems are often only metres to a few tens of metres thick, cyclothem sequences can be many hundreds to thousands of metres thick and contain tens to hundreds of individual cyclothems. Cyclothems were deposited along continental shelves where the very gentle gradient of the shelves meant even small changes in sea level led to large advances or retreats of

1050-449: A study of the British rock succession. Carboniferous is the period during which both terrestrial animal and land plant life was well established. Stegocephalia (four-limbed vertebrates including true tetrapods ), whose forerunners ( tetrapodomorphs ) had evolved from lobe-finned fish during the preceding Devonian period, became pentadactylous during the Carboniferous. The period

1155-624: A tropical wetland environment. Extensive coal deposits developed within the cyclothem sequences that dominated the Pennsylvanian sedimentary basins associated with the growing orogenic belt. Subduction of the Panthalassic oceanic plate along its western margin resulted in the Antler orogeny in the Late Devonian to Early Mississippian. Further north along the margin, slab roll-back , beginning in

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1260-423: A variety of methods for reconstructing past atmospheric oxygen levels, including the charcoal record, halite gas inclusions, burial rates of organic carbon and pyrite , carbon isotopes of organic material, isotope mass balance and forward modelling. Depending on the preservation of source material, some techniques represent moments in time (e.g. halite gas inclusions), whilst others have a wider time range (e.g.

1365-725: A warmer climate. This rapid rise in CO 2 may have been due to a peak in pyroclastic volcanism and/or a reduction in burial of terrestrial organic matter. The LPIA peaked across the Carboniferous-Permian boundary. Widespread glacial deposits are found across South America, western and central Africa, Antarctica, Australia, Tasmania, the Arabian Peninsula, India, and the Cimmerian blocks, indicating trans-continental ice sheets across southern Gondwana that reached to sea-level. In response to

1470-475: Is administered by the West Coast Regional Council , and is known co-officially as Te Tai Poutini . It comprises the territorial authorities of Buller District , Grey District and Westland District . The principal towns are Westport , Greymouth and Hokitika . The region, one of the more remote areas of the country, is also the most sparsely populated. With a population of just 32,900 people,

1575-559: Is at Shantytown . Other towns and settlements include: The West Coast region is governed by the West Coast Regional Council. Currently, it is chaired by Peter Haddock. The subnational gross domestic product (GDP) of the West Coast was estimated at NZ$ 2,373 million in the year to March 2022, 0.7% of New Zealand's national GDP. The regional GDP per capita was estimated at $ 72,127 in the same period. The region had one of

1680-589: Is difficult. The Tournaisian Stage is named after the Belgian city of Tournai . It was introduced in scientific literature by Belgian geologist André Dumont in 1832. The GSSP for the base of the Carboniferous System, Mississippian Subsystem and Tournaisian Stage is located at the La Serre section in Montagne Noire , southern France. It is defined by the first appearance of the conodont Siphonodella sulcata within

1785-874: Is in Greymouth. The region has been included in the "Top 10 Coastal Drives of the World" by Lonely Planet . The region has the only New Zealand nesting place of the kōtuku (white heron) , at the Waitangiroto Nature Reserve , visited by tours from the small farming township of Whataroa . This rare bird appears on the $ 2 coin. Over 80% of West Coast land is administered by the Department of Conservation, much of this being in National Parks. These include from north to south, parts of Kahurangi NP, Paparoa NP, parts of Arthurs Pass NP, Westland NP, parts of Aspiring NP plus

1890-517: Is named after the Russian village of Gzhel , near Ramenskoye , not far from Moscow. The name and type locality were defined by Sergei Nikitin in 1890. The Gzhelian currently lacks a defined GSSP. The first appearance of the fusulinid Rauserites rossicus and Rauserites stuckenbergi can be used in the Boreal Sea and Paleo-Tethyan regions but not eastern Pangea or Panthalassa margins. Potential sites in

1995-612: Is sometimes called the Age of Amphibians because of the diversification of early amphibians such as the temnospondyls , which became dominant land vertebrates, as well as the first appearance of amniotes including synapsids (the clade to which modern mammals belong) and sauropsids (which include modern reptiles and birds) during the late Carboniferous. Land arthropods such as arachnids (e.g. trigonotarbids and Pulmonoscorpius ), myriapods (e.g. Arthropleura ) and especially insects (particularly flying insects ) also underwent

2100-626: Is that a delay between the development of trees with the wood fibre lignin and the subsequent evolution of lignin-degrading fungi gave a period of time where vast amounts of lignin-based organic material could accumulate. Genetic analysis of basidiomycete fungi, which have enzymes capable of breaking down lignin, supports this theory by suggesting this fungi evolved in the Permian. However, significant Mesozoic and Cenozoic coal deposits formed after lignin-digesting fungi had become well established, and fungal degradation of lignin may have already evolved by

2205-538: Is the least populous of New Zealand's sixteen regions. The West Coast is also the most sparsely populated region, with just 1.50 people per square kilometre (3.88 per square mile). West Coast Region had a population of 33,390 in the 2023 New Zealand census , an increase of 1,815 people (5.7%) since the 2018 census , and an increase of 1,242 people (3.9%) since the 2013 census . There were 17,031 males, 16,245 females and 117 people of other genders in 14,793 dwellings. 2.7% of people identified as LGBTIQ+ . The median age

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2310-546: Is the only region of New Zealand where coal mining is still widely practiced. The name Westland is used by some New Zealanders to refer to the whole of the West Coast, including Grey District , Buller District and Fiordland , and can also refer to the short-lived Westland Province of 1873–76. Fiordland is on the west coast, but is in the Southland Region rather than the West Coast Region. Inhabitants of

2415-643: Is underway in the Urals and Nashui, Guizhou Province, southwestern China for a suitable site for the GSSP with the proposed definition for the base of the Serpukhovian as the first appearance of conodont Lochriea ziegleri . The Pennsylvanian was proposed by J.J.Stevenson in 1888, named after the widespread coal-rich strata found across the state of Pennsylvania. The closure of the Rheic Ocean and formation of Pangea during

2520-729: The Canterbury Plains and in the Firth of Thames , they have been almost completely destroyed for settlement and agriculture. Scenic areas include the Haast Pass , Fox and Franz Josef Glaciers , Hokitika Gorge , Lake Brunner , the Pancake Rocks at Punakaiki , the Oparara Arches and the Heaphy Track . The region has very high rainfall due to the prevailing northwesterly wind pattern and

2625-513: The Carboniferous rainforest collapse , occurred at the end of the period, caused by climate change. Atmospheric oxygen levels, originally thought to be consistently higher than today throughout the Carboniferous, have been shown to be more variable, increasing from low levels at the beginning of the Period to highs of 25-30%. The development of a Carboniferous chronostratigraphic timescale began in

2730-688: The Gulf of Mexico in the west to Turkey in the east. The orogeny was caused by a series of continental collisions between Laurussia, Gondwana and the Armorican Terrane Assemblage (much of modern-day Central and Western Europe including Iberia ) as the Rheic Ocean closed and Pangea formed. This mountain building process began in the Middle Devonian and continued into the early Permian. The Armorican terranes rifted away from Gondwana during

2835-661: The Kuznetsk Basin . The northwest to eastern margins of Siberia were passive margins along the Mongol-Okhotsk Ocean on the far side of which lay Amuria. From the mid Carboniferous, subduction zones with associated magmatic arcs developed along both margins of the ocean. The southwestern margin of Siberia was the site of a long lasting and complex accretionary orogen. The Devonian to early Carboniferous Siberian and South Chinese Altai accretionary complexes developed above an east-dipping subduction zone, whilst further south,

2940-566: The Magnitogorsk island arc , which lay between Kazakhstania and Laurussia in the Ural Ocean , collided with the passive margin of northeastern Laurussia ( Baltica craton ). The suture zone between the former island arc complex and the continental margin formed the Main Uralian Fault , a major structure that runs for more than 2,000 km along the orogen. Accretion of the island arc

3045-478: The Westland Province , until the abolition of the provincial system in 1876. The West Coast gold rush between 1864 and 1867 created numerous gold rush towns such as Ōkārito, which at one time was the largest town on the West Coast but quickly almost vanished as miners moved on. After that time, the population dwindled, but the main towns that still exist had become established. Following greenstone and gold,

3150-824: The 1890s these became the Dinantian, Moscovian and Uralian stages. The Serpukivian was proposed as part of the Lower Carboniferous, and the Upper Carboniferous was divided into the Moscovian and Gzhelian . The Bashkirian was added in 1934. In 1975, the ICS formally ratified the Carboniferous System, with the Mississippian and Pennsylvanian subsystems from the North American timescale, the Tournaisian and Visean stages from

3255-399: The 2019–2020 season, there were 150,000 milking cows on the West Coast, 3.0% of the country's total herd. The cows produced 50,700 tonnes of milk solids, worth $ 365 million at the national average farmgate price ($ 7.20 per kg). Other industries are the manufacturing and sales of greenstone jewellery, sphagnum moss gathering and stone-collection for garden landscaping. Monteith's brewery

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3360-520: The Bashkirian, the late Moscovian and the latest Kasimovian to mid-Gzhelian are inferred from the disappearance of glacial sediments, the appearance of deglaciation deposits and rises in sea levels. In the early Kasimovian there was short-lived (<1 million years) intense period of glaciation, with atmospheric CO 2 concentration levels dropping as low as 180 ppm. This ended suddenly as a rapid increase in CO 2 concentrations to c. 600 ppm resulted in

3465-726: The Carboniferous Earth's atmosphere, and the coal fueled the Industrial Revolution . During the Pennsylvanian, vast amounts of organic debris accumulated in the peat mires that formed across the low-lying, humid equatorial wetlands of the foreland basins of the Central Pangean Mountains in Laurussia, and around the margins of the North and South China cratons. During glacial periods, low sea levels exposed large areas of

3570-591: The Carboniferous, the Tarim craton lay along the northwestern edge of North China. Subduction along the Kazakhstanian margin of the Turkestan Ocean resulted in collision between northern Tarim and Kazakhstania during the mid Carboniferous as the ocean closed. The South Tian Shan fold and thrust belt , which extends over 2,000 km from Uzbekistan to northwest China, is the remains of this accretionary complex and forms

3675-725: The Early Mississippian, led to the rifting of the Yukon-Tanana terrane and the opening of the Slide Mountain Ocean . Along the northern margin of Laurussia, orogenic collapse of the Late Devonian to Early Mississippian Innuitian orogeny led to the development of the Sverdrup Basin . Much of Gondwana lay in the southern polar region during the Carboniferous. As the plate moved, the South Pole drifted from southern Africa in

3780-509: The Early to Middle Mississippian, carbonate production occurred to depth across the gently dipping continental slopes of Laurussia and North and South China ( carbonate ramp architecture) and evaporites formed around the coastal regions of Laurussia, Kazakhstania, and northern Gondwana. From the late Visean, the cooling climate restricted carbonate production to depths of less than c. 10 m forming carbonate shelves with flat-tops and steep sides. By

3885-437: The ICS ratify global stages based on a Global Boundary Stratotype Section and Point (GSSP) from a single formation (a stratotype ) identifying the lower boundary of the stage. Only the boundaries of the Carboniferous System and three of the stage bases are defined by global stratotype sections and points because of the complexity of the geology. The ICS subdivisions from youngest to oldest are as follows: The Mississippian

3990-485: The Kasimovian covers a period of globally low sea level, which has resulted in disconformities within many sequences of this age. This has created difficulties in finding suitable marine fauna that can used to correlate boundaries worldwide. The Kasimovian currently lacks a defined GSSP; potential sites in the southern Urals, southwest USA and Nashui, Guizhou Province, southwestern China are being considered. The Gzhelian

4095-476: The Late Ordovician . As they drifted northwards the Rheic Ocean closed in front of them, and they began to collide with southeastern Laurussia in the Middle Devonian. The resulting Variscan orogeny involved a complex series of oblique collisions with associated metamorphism , igneous activity, and large-scale deformation between these terranes and Laurussia, which continued into the Carboniferous. During

4200-635: The Late Pennsylvanian, deformation along the Alleghanian orogen became northwesterly-directed compression . The Uralian orogeny is a north–south trending fold and thrust belt that forms the western edge of the Central Asian Orogenic Belt . The Uralian orogeny began in the Late Devonian and continued, with some hiatuses, into the Jurassic . From the Late Devonian to early Carboniferous,

4305-615: The Paleo-Tethys to the southwest and Panthalassa to the northeast. Cyclothem sediments with coal and evaporites were deposited across the passive margins that surrounded both continents. The Carboniferous climate was dominated by the Late Paleozoic Ice Age (LPIA), the most extensive and longest icehouse period of the Phanerozoic, which lasted from the Late Devonian to the Permian (365 Ma-253 Ma). Temperatures began to drop during

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4410-459: The Pennsylvanian, cyclothems were deposited in shallow, epicontinental seas across the tropical regions of Laurussia (present day western and central US, Europe, Russia and central Asia) and the North and South China cratons . The rapid sea levels fluctuations they represent correlate with the glacial cycles of the Late Paleozoic Ice Age. The advance and retreat of ice sheets across Gondwana followed

4515-402: The Pennsylvanian, together with widespread glaciation across Gondwana led to major climate and sea level changes, which restricted marine fauna to particular geographic areas thereby reducing widespread biostratigraphic correlations. Extensive volcanic events associated with the assembling of Pangea means more radiometric dating is possible relative to the Mississippian. The Bashkirian Stage

4620-426: The Period. This was not a steady rise, but included peaks and troughs reflecting the dynamic climate conditions of the time. How the atmospheric oxygen concentrations influenced the large body size of arthropods and other fauna and flora during the Carboniferous is also a subject of ongoing debate. The changing climate was reflected in regional-scale changes in sedimentation patterns. In the relatively warm waters of

4725-480: The Permian. The Kazakhstanian microcontinent is composed of a series of Devonian and older accretionary complexes. It was strongly deformed during the Carboniferous as its western margin collided with Laurussia during the Uralian orogen and its northeastern margin collided with Siberia. Continuing strike-slip motion between Laurussia and Siberia led the formerly elongate microcontinent to bend into an orocline . During

4830-623: The South Westland World Heritage Area. Each of these parks have flora and fauna common to all areas, as well as species, like kiwi, particular to those areas. Four roads run into the West Coast Region. The main road running the length of the region is State Highway 6 . It connects to the Tasman District in the north through the Buller Gorge , and to Otago in the south via Haast Pass . Two roads connect to Canterbury to

4935-623: The Taramakau River in 1864 by two Māori, Ihaia Tainui and Haimona Taukau. By the end of the year there were an estimated 1800 prospectors, many of them around the Hokitika area, which in 1866 was briefly the most populous settlement in New Zealand. The region was divided between Nelson Province and Canterbury Province from 1853: in 1873 the Canterbury portion of the region formed its own province,

5040-409: The Tasman Sea. Following the 1967 avulsion, some of the flow from the alluvial fan was into Graham Creek and then back into the original bed of the river and to the Tasman Sea. Stopbanks constructed on the alluvial fan in the 1980s, to prevent the southern section of the river returning to its previous course, mean that the northern river is no longer fed by the southern river. The southern section of

5145-432: The Urals and Nashui, Guizhou Province, southwestern China are being considered. The Kasimovian is the first stage in the Upper Pennsylvanian. It is named after the Russian city of Kasimov , and was originally included as part of Nikitin's 1890 definition of the Moscovian. It was first recognised as a distinct unit by A.P. Ivanov in 1926, who named it the " Tiguliferina " Horizon after a type of brachiopod . The boundary of

5250-431: The Urals and Nashui, Guizhou Province, southwestern China for the GSSP are being considered. The GSSP for the base of the Permian is located in the Aidaralash River valley near Aqtöbe , Kazakhstan and was ratified in 1996. The beginning of the stage is defined by the first appearance of the conodont Streptognathodus postfusus . A cyclothem is a succession of non-marine and marine sedimentary rocks , deposited during

5355-414: The Visean of c. 15.3%, although with large uncertainties; and, pyrite records suggest levels of c. 15% early in the Carboniferous, to over 25% during the Pennsylvanian, before dropping back below 20% towards the end. However, whilst exact numbers vary, all models show an overall increase in atmospheric oxygen levels from a low of between 15-20% at the beginning of the Carboniferous to highs of 25-30% during

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5460-425: The West Coast are colloquially known as "Coasters". The region reaches from Kahurangi Point in the north to Awarua Point in the south, a distance of 600 km. It has an area of 23,246 km . To the west is the Tasman Sea (which like the Southern Ocean can be very rough, with four-metre swells common), and to the east are the Southern Alps . Much of the land is rugged, with a coastal plain where much of

5565-405: The West Coast is the least populous region in New Zealand. The population in the region grew by 0.4% over the year to July 2023. The region has a rich and important history. The land itself is ancient, stretching back to the Carboniferous period ; this is evident by the amount of carboniferous materials naturally found there, especially coal . First settled by Kāi Tahu in approximately 1200 AD,

5670-410: The Western European and the Serpukhovian, Bashkirian, Moscovian, Kasimovian and Gzhelian from the Russian. With the formal ratification of the Carboniferous System, the Dinantian, Silesian, Namurian, Westphalian and Stephanian became redundant terms, although the latter three are still in common use in Western Europe. Stages can be defined globally or regionally. For global stratigraphic correlation,

5775-406: The Zharma-Saur arc formed along the northeastern margin of Kazakhstania. By the late Carboniferous, all these complexes had accreted to the Siberian craton as shown by the intrusion of post-orogenic granites across the region. As Kazakhstania had already accreted to Laurussia, Siberia was effectively part of Pangea by 310 Ma, although major strike-slip movements continued between it and Laurussia into

5880-415: The area was famous across New Zealand for its richness in pounamu greenstone. Kāi Tahu traded millions of modern New Zealand dollars ' worth of the stone across New Zealand , making Te Tai Poutini one of the wealthiest regions in the country. After the arrival of Europeans, the region became famed for its vast and mostly untapped gold reserves, which historically had not been highly valued. The region

5985-477: The average temperature in the tropics c. 24 °C (75 °F) and in polar regions c. -23 °C (-10 °F), whilst during the Early Tournaisian Warm Interval (358-353 Ma) the GAT was c. 22 °C (72 °F), the tropics c. 30 °C (86 °F) and polar regions c. 1.5 °C (35 °F). Overall, for the Ice Age the GAT was c. 17 °C (62 °F), with tropical temperatures c. 26 °C and polar temperatures c. -9.0 °C (16 °F). There are

6090-493: The boundary, is not seen at the La Serre site making precise correlation difficult. The Viséan Stage was introduced by André Dumont in 1832 and is named after the city of Visé , Liège Province , Belgium. In 1967, the base of the Visean was officially defined as the first black limestone in the Leffe facies at the Bastion Section in the Dinant Basin . These changes are now thought to be ecologically driven rather than caused by evolutionary change, and so this has not been used as

6195-420: The census question. Of those at least 15 years old, 2,658 (9.5%) people had a bachelor's or higher degree, 15,825 (56.6%) had a post-high school certificate or diploma, and 8,490 (30.4%) people exclusively held high school qualifications. The median income was $ 32,700, compared with $ 41,500 nationally. 1,956 people (7.0%) earned over $ 100,000 compared to 12.1% nationally. The employment status of those at least 15

6300-410: The charcoal record and pyrite). Results from these different methods for the Carboniferous vary. For example: the increasing occurrence of charcoal produced by wildfires from the Late Devonian into the Carboniferous indicates increasing oxygen levels, with calculations showing oxygen levels above 21% for most of the Carboniferous; halite gas inclusions from sediments dated 337-335 Ma give estimates for

6405-437: The continental shelves. Major river channels, up to several kilometres wide, stretched across these shelves feeding a network of smaller channels, lakes and peat mires. These wetlands were then buried by sediment as sea levels rose during interglacials . Continued crustal subsidence of the foreland basins and continental margins allowed this accumulation and burial of peat deposits to continue over millions of years resulting in

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6510-475: The early Carboniferous Kanimblan Orogeny . Continental arc magmatism continued into the late Carboniferous and extended round to connect with the developing proto-Andean subduction zone along the western South American margin of Gondwana. Shallow seas covered much of the Siberian craton in the early Carboniferous. These retreated as sea levels fell in the Pennsylvanian and as the continent drifted north into more temperate zones extensive coal deposits formed in

6615-416: The early Carboniferous in North China. However, bauxite deposits immediately above the regional mid Carboniferous unconformity indicate warm tropical conditions and are overlain by cyclothems including extensive coals. South China and Annamia (Southeast Asia) rifted from Gondwana during the Devonian. During the Carboniferous, they were separated from each other and North China by the Paleoasian Ocean with

6720-503: The early Carboniferous to eastern Antarctica by the end of the period. Glacial deposits are widespread across Gondwana and indicate multiple ice centres and long-distance movement of ice. The northern to northeastern margin of Gondwana (northeast Africa, Arabia, India and northeastern West Australia) was a passive margin along the southern edge of the Paleo-Tethys with cyclothem deposition including, during more temperate intervals, coal swamps in Western Australia. The Mexican terranes along

6825-424: The east, State Highway 7 through Lewis Pass to North Canterbury and State Highway 73 via Arthur's Pass to Christchurch . The Midland railway line is the only railway line into the region. It links to Christchurch via Arthur's Pass. The TranzAlpine train service runs return between Christchurch and Greymouth daily and freight lines extend to Ngākawau and Hokitika . Daily passenger flights operate into

6930-406: The end of the Carboniferous, extension and rifting across the northern margin of Gondwana led to the breaking away of the Cimmerian Terrane during the early Permian and the opening of the Neo-Tethys Ocean . Along the southeastern and southern margin of Gondwana (eastern Australia and Antarctica), northward subduction of Panthalassa continued. Changes in the relative motion of the plates resulted in

7035-403: The end of the Devonian, even if the specific enzymes used by basidiomycetes had not. The second theory is that the geographical setting and climate of the Carboniferous were unique in Earth's history: the co-occurrence of the position of the continents across the humid equatorial zone, high biological productivity, and the low-lying, water-logged and slowly subsiding sedimentary basins that allowed

7140-409: The evolutionary lineage from Siphonodella praesulcata to Siphonodella sulcata . This was ratified by the ICS in 1990. However, in 2006 further study revealed the presence of Siphonodella sulcata below the boundary, and the presence of Siphonodella praesulcata and Siphonodella sulcata together above a local unconformity . This means the evolution of one species to the other, the definition of

7245-425: The formation of thick and widespread coal formations. During the warm interglacials, smaller coal swamps with plants adapted to the temperate conditions formed on the Siberian craton and the western Australian region of Gondwana. There is ongoing debate as to why this peak in the formation of Earth's coal deposits occurred during the Carboniferous. The first theory, known as the delayed fungal evolution hypothesis,

7350-434: The late 18th century. The term "Carboniferous" was first used as an adjective by Irish geologist Richard Kirwan in 1799 and later used in a heading entitled "Coal-measures or Carboniferous Strata" by John Farey Sr. in 1811. Four units were originally ascribed to the Carboniferous, in ascending order, the Old Red Sandstone , Carboniferous Limestone , Millstone Grit and the Coal Measures . These four units were placed into

7455-433: The late Devonian with a short-lived glaciation in the late Famennian through Devonian–Carboniferous boundary, before the Early Tournaisian Warm Interval. Following this, a reduction in atmospheric CO 2 levels, caused by the increased burial of organic matter and widespread ocean anoxia led to climate cooling and glaciation across the south polar region. During the Visean Warm Interval glaciers nearly vanished retreating to

7560-562: The location for the GSSP. Instead, the GSSP for the base of the Visean is located in Bed 83 of the sequence of dark grey limestones and shales at the Pengchong section, Guangxi , southern China. It is defined by the first appearance of the fusulinid Eoparastaffella simplex in the evolutionary lineage Eoparastaffella ovalis – Eoparastaffella simplex and was ratified in 2009. The Serpukhovian Stage

7665-540: The location of the Southern Alps, which give rise to heavy orographic precipitation . The rain shadow effect is responsible for the relatively arid climate of the Canterbury Plains on the other side of the Southern Alps. The region is home to Ngāi Tahu , who value it for the greenstone (pounamu) found there in abundance. The region was only occasionally visited by Europeans until the discovery of gold near

7770-432: The majority of a cyclothem sequence occurred during falling sea levels, when rates of erosion were high, meaning they were often periods of non-deposition. Erosion during sea level falls could also result in the full or partial removal of previous cyclothem sequences. Individual cyclothems are generally less than 10 m thick because the speed at which sea level rose gave only limited time for sediments to accumulate. During

7875-656: The mid Carboniferous, the South American sector of Gondwana collided obliquely with Laurussia's southern margin resulting in the Ouachita orogeny. The major strike-slip faulting that occurred between Laurussia and Gondwana extended eastwards into the Appalachian Mountains where early deformation in the Alleghanian orogeny was predominantly strike-slip. As the West African sector of Gondwana collided with Laurussia during

7980-581: The next valuable mineral was coal. Discovered near the Buller River in the mid-1840s, mining began in earnest during the 1860s. By the 1880s coal had become the region's main industry, with mines throughout the northern half of the region, especially around Westport . Many of these continued in operation until the mid-20th century, and several survive. Timber has also long been a major industry, although in recent years there has been an uneasy balance between forestry for wood and forestry for conservation. Much of

8085-505: The northwestern Gondwana margin, were affected by the subduction of the Rheic Ocean. However, they lay to west of the Ouachita orogeny and were not impacted by continental collision but became part of the active margin of the Pacific. The Moroccan margin was affected by periods of widespread dextral strike-slip deformation, magmatism and metamorphism associated with the Variscan orogeny. Towards

8190-536: The official name of the rivers, previously known as the Waitangitaona River was gazetted as the Waitangitāhuna River, correcting a misspelling that had been in use since the middle of the 19th century. Te Rūnanga o Makaawhio , the governance entity for local Māori had initially proposed two different names for the two rivers but, following public consultation, changed its proposal so that each section of

8295-426: The peat mires. As fully marine conditions were established, limestones succeeded these marginal marine deposits. The limestones were in turn overlain by deep water black shales as maximum sea levels were reached. Ideally, this sequence would be reversed as sea levels began to fall again; however, sea level falls tend to be protracted, whilst sea level rises are rapid, ice sheets grow slowly but melt quickly. Therefore,

8400-399: The population resides. It is divided into the three local government districts of (from north to south) Buller , Grey and Westland . The land is very scenic, with wild coastlines, mountains and a very high proportion of native bush , much of it native temperate rain forest . It is the only part of New Zealand where significant tracts of lowland forest remain: elsewhere, for instance on

8505-877: The proto-Andes in Bolivia and western Argentina and the Pan-African mountain ranges in southeastern Brazil and southwest Africa. The main phase of the LPIA (c. 335-290 Ma) began in the late Visean, as the climate cooled and atmospheric CO 2 levels dropped. Its onset was accompanied by a global fall in sea level and widespread multimillion-year unconformities. This main phase consisted of a series of discrete several million-year-long glacial periods during which ice expanded out from up to 30 ice centres that stretched across mid- to high latitudes of Gondwana in eastern Australia, northwestern Argentina, southern Brazil, and central and Southern Africa. Isotope records indicate this drop in CO 2 levels

8610-510: The region is public land administered by the Department of Conservation and the region has some of the best remaining stands of native forest, along with a wealth of rare wildlife. Ecotourism is now an important industry, and this goes hand in hand with the conservation efforts. The West Coast region covers 23,245.52 km (8,975.15 sq mi) and has an estimated population of 34,800 as of June 2024, 0.7% of New Zealand's population. It

8715-515: The region. Air New Zealand flies between Christchurch and Hokitika and Sounds Air between Wellington and Westport. Carboniferous period The name Carboniferous means " coal -bearing", from the Latin carbō (" coal ") and ferō ("bear, carry"), and refers to the many coal beds formed globally during that time. The first of the modern "system" names, it was coined by geologists William Conybeare and William Phillips in 1822, based on

8820-401: The river flows for about 21 kilometres (13 mi) from its headwaters to Lake Wahapo, and includes a 57-metre-high (187 ft) waterfall. From Lake Wahapo the water runs through Trustpower 's 3.1   MW Wahapo hydroelectric power station , first commissioned in 1960, to the Ōkārito River . A bridge on SH 6 , 5.8 kilometres (3.6 mi) southwest of Whataroa is the only bridge over

8925-589: The river would have the same name. The proposal was accepted by the New Zealand Geographic Board and the Minister for Land Information , Eugenie Sage . The name Waitangitāhuna translates from Māori as weeping waters . The earlier, incorrect, spelling of the name was untranslatable. The Waitangitāhuna river rises in the snowfields of the Tatare Range, on the slopes of McFetrick Peak, and flows in

9030-462: The river. The northern section of the river, flows generally north then westwards for approximately 28 kilometres (17 mi) from its source at the confluence of Graham Creek and Matainui Creek (which flows through Whataroa) to its mouth at the Tasman Sea, just north of Ōkārito Lagoon. The shorter Waitangiroto River follows a course roughly parallel to that the lower Waitangitāhuna, one kilometre to

9135-622: The sea. Cyclothem lithologies vary from mudrock and carbonate-dominated to coarse siliciclastic sediment-dominated sequences depending on the paleo-topography, climate and supply of sediments to the shelf. The main period of cyclothem deposition occurred during the Late Paleozoic Ice Age from the Late Mississippian to early Permian, when the waxing and waning of ice sheets led to rapid changes in eustatic sea level . The growth of ice sheets led global sea levels to fall as water

9240-616: The south. By August 1967, the Whataroa River had formed its own channel to the sea, and now reaches the Tasman 2 km (1.2 mi) to the north of mouth of the Waitangitāhuna River. West Coast, New Zealand The West Coast ( Māori : Te Tai Poutini , lit.   'The Coast of Poutini, the Taniwha ') is a region of New Zealand on the west coast of the South Island . It

9345-422: The strongest growing regional economies of New Zealand in 2022, though from a rather small base. Industries include mining for coal and alluvial gold , forestry and wood processing, fishing (including whitebaiting ), tourism and farming. Dairy farming has grown strongly – the local dairy co-operative Westland Milk Products remained independent when most others merged to form Fonterra in 2001. In

9450-556: The suture between Kazakhstania and Tarim. A continental magmatic arc above a south-dipping subduction zone lay along the northern North China margin, consuming the Paleoasian Ocean. Northward subduction of the Paleo-Tethys beneath the southern margins of North China and Tarim continued during the Carboniferous, with the South Qinling block accreted to North China during the mid to late Carboniferous. No sediments are preserved from

9555-410: The thick accumulation of peat were sufficient to account for the peak in coal formation. During the Carboniferous, there was an increased rate in tectonic plate movements as the supercontinent Pangea assembled. The continents themselves formed a near circle around the opening Paleo-Tethys Ocean, with the massive Panthalassic Ocean beyond. Gondwana covered the south polar region. To its northwest

9660-544: The uplift and erosion of the more mafic basement rocks of the Central Pangea Mountains at this time, CO 2 levels dropped as low as 175 ppm and remained under 400 ppm for 10 Ma. Temperatures across the Carboniferous reflect the phases of the LPIA. At the extremes, during the Permo-Carboniferous Glacial Maximum (299-293 Ma) the global average temperature (GAT) was c. 13 °C (55 °F),

9765-639: The upper Silesian with mainly siliciclastic deposition. The Dinantian was divided into the Tournaisian and Viséan stages. The Silesian was divided into the Namurian , Westphalian and Stephanian stages. The Tournaisian is the same length as the International Commission on Stratigraphy (ICS) stage, but the Viséan is longer, extending into the lower Serpukhovian . North American geologists recognised

9870-558: Was 48.1 years (compared with 38.1 years nationally). There were 5,448 people (16.3%) aged under 15 years, 4,518 (13.5%) aged 15 to 29, 15,861 (47.5%) aged 30 to 64, and 7,563 (22.7%) aged 65 or older. People could identify as more than one ethnicity. The results were 89.7% European ( Pākehā ); 13.5% Māori ; 1.6% Pasifika ; 4.0% Asian ; 0.5% Middle Eastern, Latin American and African New Zealanders (MELAA); and 4.3% other, which includes people giving their ethnicity as "New Zealander". English

9975-487: Was Laurussia. These two continents slowly collided to form the core of Pangea. To the north of Laurussia lay Siberia and Amuria . To the east of Siberia, Kazakhstania , North China and South China formed the northern margin of the Paleo-Tethys, with Annamia laying to the south. The Central Pangean Mountains were formed during the Variscan - Alleghanian - Ouachita orogeny. Today their remains stretch over 10,000 km from

10080-500: Was complete by the Tournaisian, but subduction of the Ural Ocean between Kazakhstania and Laurussia continued until the Bashkirian when the ocean finally closed and continental collision began. Significant strike-slip movement along this zone indicates the collision was oblique. Deformation continued into the Permian and during the late Carboniferous and Permian the region was extensively intruded by granites . The Laurussian continent

10185-559: Was formed by the collision between Laurentia , Baltica and Avalonia during the Devonian. At the beginning of the Carboniferous, some models show it at the equator, whilst others place it further south. In either case, the continent drifted northwards, reaching low latitudes in the northern hemisphere by the end of the Period. The Central Pangean Mountain drew in moist air from the Paleo-Tethys Ocean resulting in heavy precipitation and

10290-646: Was lock away in glaciers. Falling sea levels exposed large tracts of the continental shelves across which river systems eroded channels and valleys and vegetation broke down the surface to form soils . The non-marine sediments deposited on this erosional surface form the base of the cyclothem. As sea levels began to rise, the rivers flowed through increasingly water-logged landscapes of swamps and lakes. Peat mires developed in these wet and oxygen-poor conditions, leading to coal formation. With continuing sea level rise, coastlines migrated landward and deltas , lagoons and esturaries developed; their sediments deposited over

10395-564: Was proposed by Alexander Winchell in 1870 named after the extensive exposure of lower Carboniferous limestone in the upper Mississippi River valley. During the Mississippian, there was a marine connection between the Paleo-Tethys and Panthalassa through the Rheic Ocean resulting in the near worldwide distribution of marine faunas and so allowing widespread correlations using marine biostratigraphy . However, there are few Mississippian volcanic rocks , and so obtaining radiometric dates

10500-564: Was proposed by Russian stratigrapher Sofia Semikhatova in 1934. It was named after Bashkiria , the then Russian name of the republic of Bashkortostan in the southern Ural Mountains of Russia. The GSSP for the base of the Pennsylvanian Subsystem and Bashkirian Stage is located at Arrow Canyon in Nevada , US and was ratified in 1996. It is defined by the first appearance of the conodont Declinognathodus noduliferus . Arrow Canyon lay in

10605-505: Was proposed in 1890 by Russian stratigrapher Sergei Nikitin . It is named after the city of Serpukhov , near Moscow. currently lacks a defined GSSP. The Visean-Serpukhovian boundary coincides with a major period of glaciation. The resulting sea level fall and climatic changes led to the loss of connections between marine basins and endemism of marine fauna across the Russian margin. This means changes in biota are environmental rather than evolutionary making wider correlation difficult. Work

10710-556: Was spoken by 98.0%, Māori language by 2.3%, Samoan by 0.2% and other languages by 5.6%. No language could be spoken by 1.5% (e.g. too young to talk). New Zealand Sign Language was known by 0.5%. The percentage of people born overseas was 13.2, compared with 28.8% nationally. Religious affiliations were 29.8% Christian , 0.6% Hindu , 0.2% Islam , 0.3% Māori religious beliefs , 0.4% Buddhist , 0.7% New Age , 0.1% Jewish , and 1.2% other religions. People who answered that they had no religion were 57.8%, and 9.0% of people did not answer

10815-467: Was subsequently settled by thousands of Irish Catholics after the Irish Famine , who constitute the majority of the population, alongside the indigenous Kāi Tahu and those who come from admixing between the two populations. The region was also heavily sought after by nuclear weapons states in the 1950s for its abundant resources of uranium , which many West Coasters found objectionable. The West Coast

10920-487: Was that 12,819 (45.9%) people were employed full-time, 4,101 (14.7%) were part-time, and 687 (2.5%) were unemployed. There are only four towns with a population over 1,000: Greymouth , Westport , Hokitika and Runanga . These four towns, plus Reefton (population 980), are recognised as urban areas by Statistics New Zealand. During the gold rush days, Hokitika had a population of more than 25,000 with more than 100 pubs . A recreation of an early New Zealand settlement

11025-455: Was triggered by tectonic factors with increased weathering of the growing Central Pangean Mountains and the influence of the mountains on precipitation and surface water flow. Closure of the oceanic gateway between the Rheic and Tethys oceans in the early Bashkirian also contributed to climate cooling by changing ocean circulation and heat flow patterns. Warmer periods with reduced ice volume within

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