Grain size parameters and sedimentary structures of a last Interglacial marine sand body, near Westport, New Zealand

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Abstract
Reids Rise is a remnant of a marine sand body that accumulated in the inner neritic zone of the continental shelf south‐west of Westport during the Last Interglacial. The sand body is notable for its spectacular sedimentary structures and consists of an upper unit that is characterised by trough cross‐lamination, locally forming mesoscopic ridges, and a lower unit that is characterised by horizontal lamination. The sand body is underlain by gravels of probable alluvial origin. The trough cross‐laminated sets of the upper unit dip off near‐symmetrical ridges that probably formed as subaqueous bars. The dip azimuths of the cross‐laminae have a polymodal distribution with two bimodal maxima, one almost perpendicular to, and the second roughly parallel to the shoreline formed during the Last Interglacial. Magnitude of dip varies from horizontal to over 40°. The sediment is clean, fine sand composed predominantly of angular grains. Sample to sample variation in grain size statistical parameters is small. The most notable feature is the extremely good sorting of the sand. Inclusive graphic standard deviation values range over 0.17–0.24ϕ with 0.20ϕ the modal value. The mineralogy of the sand points to two main source areas, the Alpine metamorphic rocks to the south and south‐east, and the plutonic rocks of the Paparoa Range immediately east and south‐east of the study area. The stratigraphic sequence is interpreted as being the product of deposition in a high energy, wave‐, tidal‐current‐, and longshore‐current‐dominated shallow neritic zone on an open coast during a transgressive cycle.

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