Eruption Points of Newer Volcanic Province

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Glenelg-Hopkins Eruption Points

This information has been obtained from the report: Eruption Points of the Newer Volcanic Province of Victoria by Neville Rosengren. This report was published in 1994 and was prepared for the National Trust of Australia (Victoria) and the Geological Society of Australia (Victorian Division). The review of eruption points was based on an earlier unpublished manuscript Catalogue of the post-Miocene volcanoes of Victoria compiled by O P Singleton and E B Joyce (Geology Department, University of Melbourne 1970).

Geological heritage sites, including sites of geomorphological interest and volcanic heritage sites, are under regular revision by the Geological Society of Australia, especially in the assessment of significance and values. Reference should be made to themost recent reports. See the Earth Science Heritage section of the Geological Society of Australia website for details of geological heritage reports, and a bibliography.

Mt Elephant is a site of National Significance. It is the best example of a breached scoria cone in Victoria and possibly in Australia.

The term Newer Volcanic Province describes the area of volcanic activity in Western Victoria younger than 7 million years ago (Wellman 1974). This province is an irregular area that covers significant areas of the southern and eastern parts of the Glenelg-Hopkins region. Within the Province is contained a rich array of features typical of a basaltic lava field, and because of their relatively young age many of the volcanic features are well preserved. The eruption points are often quite conspicuous and form dominant landscape features.

Increasingly, the eruption points and associated volcanic features are being degraded by human activity. In many cases quarrying, agricultural activities and urbanisation have significantly altered or even obliterated features. Conversely, in some instances quarrying has provided excellent sections through eruption points, exposing details that would otherwise not be visible. The purpose of this study was to examine the eruption points of the Newer Volcanic Province and identify those that are significant. Once these important volcanic features are destroyed or badly degraded, the community has lost valuable scientific, educational and/or aesthetic assets.

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