Nelson Historical Society Journal, Volume 3, Issue 1, October 1974
Wairau Valley and the Alpine Fault
The Wairau Valley occupies a fault line. The rocks in the mountains to the north are quite different from those on the other side of the valley. In fact these rocks have more in common with the rocks and formations which occur in the Eglinton Valley and at the head of Lake Wakatipu, some three hundred miles away. Geologists consider that once they were joined and have since moved apart along the line of the Alpine Fault which runs up the west side of the Southern Alps and curves round the northern spurs of Mt Robert to run down the Wairau Valley.
B.E.D.