Cretaceous palynomorphs from the Sisters islets, Chatham Islands, New Zealand

Abstract

Well-preserved palynomorphs (spores, pollen, and dinoflagellate cysts) found in a non-calcareous grey siltstone block from The Sisters, a small group of islets 20 km north of Cape Pattison, Chatham Island, indicate a probable Ngaterian—Arowhanan (Cenomanian—early Turonian) age. The siltstone represents a deeper-water facies of the Tupuangi and Rauceby Sandstones (Waihere Bay Group) of Pitt Island over 80 km to the south.