Abstract
Chaslands Mistake is a prominent headland lying on the south-east Otago coast, within N.Z.M.S. sheets S183 and S184. Access is from the Balclutha-Invercargill coast road, via the Cathedral Caves track and Waipati Beach. Approximately one hour is required from the road to the Chasland’s Headland; the Waipati Estuary can only be forded at half to low tide levels.
The only previous detailed geological work done at Chaslands Mistake is that by Speden (1971), described in “Geology of the Papatowai Subdivision”, Geological Sur vey Bulletin 81, which covers the northern side of the headland.
This report presents the results of a (somewhat) more detailed investigation into the geology of Chaslands Mistake, with particular emphasis on the sedimentary geology. The sediments in the coastal section are described using the (now well established) technique of facies analysis (e.g. Reading, 1970; Selley, 1970). The spatial distribution of facies associations is indicated on a map of Chaslands Mistake and facies relationships in a vertical sequence shown on Section A.