The Taranaki Region of New Zealand is built upon the Median Batholith in the West, and Greywacke Rocks in the East. However, no rocks older than Miocene times are visible at the surface. The dominant feature of the Taranaki Region is the andesitic stratovolcano of Mount Taranaki, which is only about 130,000 years old. The dissected hill country to the East of the Taranaki Peninsula, and West of the Central Volcanic Plateau (Ruapehu and Tongariro) is composed of soft Miocene to Pleistocene sandstone and mudstone. The coastal lowlands around Wanganui to the South have well-developed Quaternary marine terraces, and coastal sand dunes.