Geology of Moonlight Creek, North Westland

The structure and stratigraphy of part of Moonlight Creek Valley are discussed and illustrated by a map. Both middle and upper coal measures outcrop in this area, but the upper coals are thin and have no economic importance. The upper coal measures rest unconformably on the lower coal measures overlying marine beds, and overstep on to the greywacke undermass. This overstep complicates the geology, and makes it difficult to interpret the structure of the middle coal measure, which shows at Fitzgerald Creek and at Garden Gully. It is estimated that several tens of thousands of tons of high sulphur sub-bituminous coal could be won by opencast methods at Fitzgerald Creek and to the north.