How the Whanganui Basin reveals region's geological history 7 minutes to read Laurel Stowell is a reporter for the Whanganui [email protected] The many layers of sediment laid down in the Whanganui Basin record three to four million years of geological history, attracting fossickers and fossil hunters alike, Emeritus scientist Dr Hamish Campbell tells Laurel Stowell. Dr Hamish Campbell is speaking to a group of about 30 who are looking west from the top of Whanganui's Durie Hill. "I hope you like that you are sitting on top of a pile of very young sediments," he says. It's a field trip organised by Whanganui Regional Museum and Campbell's talk the previous night drew 153 to the museum lecture theatre.