title: Trace Metal Variations through the Tartan and Waipawa Formations: Implications for  the Environment of Deposition
abstract: &lt;p&gt;An inorganic geochemical study of the Late Paleocene organic matter-rich Waipawa and Tartan formations was undertaken in order to investigate the depositional environment. The formation varies in thickness between 2 and 50 metres and is distributed across many of New Zealand’s Cenozoic basins, where it forms an important potential hydrocarbon source rock. This study measured major and trace elements which can be loosely grouped into redox sensitive, biologically influenced, terrestriall