Australia: The Land Where Time Began

A biography of the Australian continent 

This is a composite breached scoria cone that has produced a number of lava flows. It has a deep, well-defined, central crater, breached on the northern side. The cone rises abruptly on the southern side above older, weathered lava flows. Around the northern side the topography is irregular, younger lava flows having emerged from here by explosive breach of the cone. The lava has been dated to 2.53 +/- 0.15 Ma. Around the base are small, parasitic vents. At 170 m above the surrounding countryside, it is one of the largest scoria cones in Victoria. Included in the lava are olivine-rich xenoliths and clinopyroxine and orthoclase megacrysts. Coarse volcanic conglomerate and thin lava pods were exposed by road cutting.

Links

1. Mt Warrenheip
2. Volcanoes of Victoria

Sources & Further reading