eroding Southern Alps into the Canterbury Bight transporting indurated sandstone of the Torlesse Super Group or greywacke to the coast. Griffiths (1981) states that chmentspecific sediment yields average 1856? 26It km2yr_1 compared with the world average of 182t kir^yr"1 and are among the highest known specific sediment yields. However, the large sediment loads from these Canterbury rivers ...