Lamprophyre dike intrusion and the age of the Alpine fault, New Zealand

The orientations of intrusive rocks from a carbonatitic lamprophyre dike swarm and the history of emplacement relative to country-rock schist structures are compatible with intrusion into tension fractures and Riedel shears formed during initiation of the dextral wrench system of the Alpine fault. New U-Pb and Rb-Sr dates indicate a late Oligocene-early Miocene time of intrusion which, in turn, suggests a mid-Tertiary history for propagation of the Alpine fault plate boundary through South Island, New Zealand.