Cretaceous palynomorphs from the Waihere Bay Group and Kahuitara Tuff, Chatham Islands, New Zealand

Palynomorphs from the Pitt Island and Waihere Bay Groups, Pitt Island, indicate an age range of ?Urutawan (Early Albian) to Teratan (Santonian) for the deltaic and shallow‐water marine sequence. The Kahuitara Tuff is of Mangaotanean to Teratan (Coniacian‐Santonian or Campanian) age; the Tupuangi Sandstone is of Ngaterian to Arowhanan (Cenomanian) age; the Headland Conglomerate, lacking in recognised angiosperm pollen, is of ?Urutawan to Motuan (Late Albian) age; a Motuan age is favoured. The first two formations contain angiosperm pollen. No fossils have previously been reported from the Headland Conglomerate, which could be a time correlative of tectonic breccias of the South Island of New Zealand. First records from New Zealand of stratigraphically important fossil palynomorphs are given. Probable reworking of palynomorphs and poor preservation negate more precise age deteminations, and first appearances, particularly of angiosperm pollen, are thus not reliable for age determinations.