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Geological Formation

Pancake Rocks, Punakaiki

Erosional and Karst Formations

The Pancake Rocks at Punakaiki, on the West Coast of New Zealand's South Island, are heavily eroded limestone formations composed of the Dolomite Point Formation, laid down some 30 million years ago from alternating layers of marine limestone and softer mudstone deposited on the seafloor at different rates. The alternating hard and soft layers, likely reflecting cyclical changes in sediment supply and pressure-driven dissolution during burial, gave the rock a distinctive thin, stacked appearance resembling a pile of pancakes, which subsequent tectonic uplift and coastal wave erosion has exposed and carved into vertical cliffs riddled with blowholes and surge pools. During high seas and incoming tides, water forced through the eroded caverns beneath the rock erupts through several blowholes, a dramatic surface expression of the erosional processes still shaping the formation today.

Facts
Classification
Protected Status
National Park or Reserve 1
Visitor Access
Open 2
Connections

Associated With

Limestone, Materials
Source Pancake Rocks and Blowholes (Wikipedia)
Oligocene, Eras
Source Pancake Rocks and Blowholes (Wikipedia)

Caused By

Erosion, Processes
Source Pancake Rocks and Blowholes (Wikipedia)
Faulting, Processes
Source Pancake Rocks and Blowholes (Wikipedia)
Folding, Processes
Source Pancake Rocks and Blowholes (Wikipedia)

In Discipline

Geomorphology, Disciplines
In the Other Atlases

Found In

New Zealand

Also in Geography Atlas: where this subject is found.

Sources
1. Pancake Rocks (Wikipedia)
Location paragraph
Quote, Location paragraph
The Pancake Rocks and Blowholes are located at Dolomite Point, immediately adjacent to the village of Punakaiki, in an area that is protected and forms part of the Paparoa National Park.
View the Source
2. Pancake Rocks and Blowholes (Wikipedia)
  • Lead paragraph
    They are a popular visitor attraction.
  • Associated With: Oligocene, Article text, age Oligocene
    The limestone was formed in the Oligocene period (around 22-30 million years old), a period in the geological history of New Zealand where most of the continent of Zealandia was submerged beneath shallow seas.
  • Associated With: Limestone, Article text, rock Limestone
    The limestone was formed in the Oligocene period (around 22-30 million years old), a period in the geological history of New Zealand where most of the continent of Zealandia was submerged beneath shallow seas.
  • Caused By: Folding, Article text, process Folding
    In the Pliocene, a few million years ago, the Kaikoura Orogeny led to slow folding and faulting of sedimentary layers in the Paparoa region, raising them above sea level.
  • Caused By: Faulting, Article text, process Faulting
    In the Pliocene, a few million years ago, the Kaikoura Orogeny led to slow folding and faulting of sedimentary layers in the Paparoa region, raising them above sea level.
  • Caused By: Erosion, Article text, process Erosion
    Following this uplift, erosion processes stripped away most of the sedimentary rocks which covered the region.
  • In Group: Stacks and Eroded Coastal Rocks, Lead sentence
    The Pancake Rocks and Blowholes are a coastal rock formation at Punakaiki on the West Coast of the South Island of New Zealand.
View the Source
Wikidata: Pancake Rocks, Punakaiki
Wikidata Q21027273, class allow-list match (w-wdresolver-0926)View the Source
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