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Project summary:
Knowledge of the geomorphology of the Huon forest district and the Glovers Bluff area has been reviewed and updated. The Warra LTER Site straddles the boundary between Tasmania’s fold and fault structure provinces. In the west of the area, and around Glovers Bluff, relief and drainage are largely controlled by folding patterns, with folded Pre-Carboniferous rocks being exposed at the surface. In the eastern section, the folded basement rocks are mostly overlain by Post-Carboniferous rocks, with relief and drainage being controlled by faulting patterns and by the joints and other structures in sedimentary rocks and erosion-resistant dolerite sheets and dykes. Dolerite also forms the higher peaks and ridges in this section. In the past, the site has been shaped by both glacial and periglacial processes.
The middle Huon Valley is thought to have been extensively glaciated, and river terraces formed by outwash deposits are found from just above Blakes Opening to the Huon Estuary. The extent of glaciation in the Weld Valley is not known. However, Mt Weld and the Gallagher Plateau display high altitude glacial landforms, and a number of moraines have been identified on the slopes of Mt Weld. One low altitude moraine is known from Isabella Creek, on the northern boundary of the Warra site. The majority of the site is dominated by Jurassic basic igneous rocks (dolerite) with some early Triassic terrestrial quartz sandstones and mudstones. Triassic/Permian complexes (terrestrial and marine sedimentary rocks) occur around the confluence of the Huon and Picton Rivers. The western part of the site is dominated by Precambrian rocks, especially black shales, mudstones and dolomite; Precambrian metamorphics (quartzite) and dolomite (featuring a marble horizon, serpentine and diopside) are also found around Glovers Bluff.
Methodology: Not available
Datasets: None available.
Publications: Sharples, C. (1994). Geomorphic values survey: Barnback Block, Huon Forest District. Forestry Tasmania, Hobart.
Sharples, C. (1994). Landforms and geological sites of geoconservation significance in the Huon Forest District. Volume 1. Inventory. Forestry Tasmania, Hobart.
Sharples, C. (1994). Landforms and geological sites of geoconservation significance in the Huon Forest District. Volume 2. Description. Forestry Tasmania, Hobart.
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