Abstract The c. 450 km-long Brook Street Terrane (pre-Alpine Fault displacement) sheds light on processes of arc magmatism and related sedimentation. A very thick (up to 15 km) succession accumulated south of the Alpine Fault in the Takitimu Mountains during the Early Permian. Predominant arc-flank talus is intercalated with basic extrusive and intrusive igneous rocks. Volcaniclastic sediments mainly accumulated by mass-flow and turbidity current processes. The sediments were mostly derived from differentiated, arc-core, basaltic–andesitic rocks, contrasting with less evolved arc-flank flows and minor intrusions. Some igneous rocks are mildly enriched, supporting an extensional back-arc setting. After volcanism ended, Middle–Late Permian mixed carbonate–volcaniclastic gravity-flow deposits were derived from a non-exposed carbonate platform. Other volcanogenic successions in the south (Bluff, Riverton) represent smaller eruptive centres. In contrast, north of the Alpine Fault (e.g. Nelson), volcanism began with mostly felsic tuffaceous gravity-flow deposits, followed by extrusion/intrusion of clinopyroxene-rich, primitive magmas, related to arc rifting, and ended with an accumulation of a mixed basic–felsic volcaniclastic forearc apron. Taking account of regional comparisons, the Early Permian arc is interpreted as having formed adjacent to Gondwana (on accreted or trapped oceanic lithosphere), whereas the lithologies north of the Alpine Fault represent contrasting Late Permian continental arc magmatism.