Red Rocks, Wellington
Red Rocks Scientific Reserve, on the coast west of Island Bay in Wellington, contains the most easily accessible and best example of pillow lavas (submarine lava flows) within the greywackes that form much of the backbone of New Zealand. They are an educational and research resource visited by many students and scientists every year. This small exposure of rocks occurs close to an extensive aggregate quarry, but had been protected from damage during the 1960s through an informal agreement negotiated by the Victoria
University Geology Department. In the early 1970s quarrying was extended into the cliffs behind and the foreshore pillows buried by debris. Rocks from the site began appearing as decorative pieces in Wellington city parks. In an effort to save the site, the Geological Society mounted a campaign, with the assistance of the Nature Conservation Council, and through planning hearings and a direct approach to the Minister of Lands was successful in having a scientific reserve gazetted in 1972.
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https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/periodicals/FORBI19890801.2.26
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Forest and Bird, Volume 20, Issue 3, 1 August 1989, Page 28
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164Red Rocks, Wellington Forest and Bird, Volume 20, Issue 3, 1 August 1989, Page 28
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