The mean height and hypsographic curve for New Zealand

The mean height of New Zealand is found to be 483 m, that of the North Island 298 m, and of the South Island 627 m. Of the total area of 2·,074 × 10 6 km 2 of the New Zealand continental block, bounded by the 2,000 m depth contour and including the Campbell Plateau, Chatham Rise, and part of the Lord Howe Rise, only 14 per cent rises above sea level, a further 12 per cent being continental shelf less than 200 m deep. The hypsographic curve for the New Zealand continental block suggests that the predominant continental level lies about 1 km lower than the world average, giving New Zealand the appearance of a low‐lying continent with only its mountain ranges appearing above sea level. Tables are given of the area, volume, centroids of area and volume, mass, and gravitational potential energy of land above a series of base levels 200 m part down to 2 km below sea level.