Correlation by lithology of stages in the Eastern Basin of New Zealand is outlined. Lateral facies changes in the Eastern Basin are consistent in time and place from the Upper Cretaceous to the Lower Tertiary and indicate that finer sediments were laid down in the central, presumably deepest part of the basin. After the close of the Eocene relief in the Eastern Basin became irregular and a sedimentation inconsistent in place and time took place. Tectonic deformation affecting the Eastern Basin was apparently not accompanied by severe breaking up uf the undermass prior to the Middle Cretaceous, but was so in the time afterwards. The central area of the Eastern Basin and the relief of Central New Zealand appears to have been tectonically low during the Upper Cretaceous and Lower Tertiary. After the Eocene the central area of the basin broke up into an irregular arrangement of tectonic highs and lows while the relief of Central New Zealand remained low.