Northern Rivers Geology

A view of the geology of the Northern Rivers of New England, New South Wales. Includes thoughts on the formation of the regions volcanoes (Mount Warning, Ebor and others), groundwater, the Clarence Moreton Basin, recent sedimentation, gas (including coal seam gas), mineralization in the eastern part of the southern New England Orogen and more. What is the geological influence in the Northern Rivers and New England areas of Australia that provide us with the beauty and diversity we see today?

Monday, 11 June 2018

The NSW/QLD border geological mess and other matters - Talk at Binna Burra

This year marks the 85th birthday of the Binna Burra Wilderness Lodge in Southern Queensland. As part of the 85th celebrations the lodge has invited many people to give talks at the lodge between the 20th and 24th of June. There are many interesting science and nature talks open to the public on these days and two of the talks will have a geological theme. The Lodge is situated on the northern side of the Tweed volcano and the landscape and ecology of the area is intimately connected with the geological history of the area.

I will be giving a talk on the evolution of our understanding of the Tweed Volcano over the years and how politics can affect how we scientifically look at our part of the world. My talk will be on Friday 22nd June at 9.30am. On Sunday 24th, Warwick Willmott will be giving a more geology overview walk and talk including discussions on how the Tweed Volcano and Hawaiian Volcanoes have many similar characteristics.

UPDATE: Due to personal matters I have had to cancel my talk. The Talk by Warwick Willmott on Sunday is unaffected.

The details of my talk are as follows:

Talk title:

Our understanding of the Tweed Volcano: A Learning, Unlearning, Forgetful and Confused Experience.

Abstract:

The landscape of the NSW/QLD Border (Lamington and Tweed areas) being the result of a single volcanic centre, has been recognised formally for less time than the establishment of Binna Burra Lodge (only 70 years). Since this first realisation, many researchers have added to understanding of how the landscape has evolved. However, sometimes even in our modern and scientific world new knowledge can get lost, be ignored, or repeat old myths. This talk will cover some of the evolution of our understanding of the Tweed Shield Volcano and examine some of the persistent ‘popular science’ myths of this landscape.

For details of events being held at Binna Burra Wilderness Lodge you can visit their facebook page:

https://www.facebook.com/pg/binnaburra/events/?ref=page_internal

2 comments:

tushar soni21 July 2018 at 19:40
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whaa?4 September 2018 at 22:05
Hullo
what do the preceding comments mean?
Cunninghams Gap , Warwick Qld has this : "The dramatic escarpment of the Main Range is a remnant of a volcano that was active some 24 million years ago. The basalt lavas formed a gently sloping shield-shaped volcano, which may have been as high as 1400 m. The Main Range shield volcano once spread across the Fassifern Valley, probably as far as Mount Maroon, Boonah and even Ipswich, and west to Warwick.

Prolonged erosion over 20 million years has removed mainly the eastern side of the volcano. The relatively steep gradients and greater erosive power of the eastwards-flowing streams rapidly eroded the volcanic lava to create a retreating escarpment, exposing intrusive plugs and dykes beneath. In contrast, the gentler western valleys, such as the Goomburra valley, and ridges have remained behind the escarpment to form today's Main Range."
Do you agree with the size of that volcano? Should Ipswich Council reduce its area?
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