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Newer Volcanics Province

Volcanic field · Australia · 1011m

Lake-filled Tower Hill maar is part of the voluminous Newer Volcanics Province, which covers a broad 15,000 km2 area of SE Australia. The volcanic field contains nearly 400 vents, with late-Pleistocene to Holocene eruptions producing scoria cones, maars, tuff rings, and valley-filling lava flows. The most recent eruptions took place at Mount Schank and Mount Gambier.
Lake-filled Tower Hill maar is part of the voluminous Newer Volcanics Province, which covers a broad 15,000 km2 area of SE Australia. The volcanic field contains nearly 400 vents, with late-Pleistocene to Holocene eruptions producing scoria cones, maars, tuff rings, and valley-filling lava flows. The most recent eruptions took place at Mount Schank and Mount Gambier. · Photo: Photo by Jim Luhr, 1993 (Smithsonian Institution).
Type
Volcanic field
Country
Australia
Region
Eastern Australia Volcanic Regions / Southeastern Australia Volcanic Province
Elevation
1011m
Coordinates
-37.770, 142.500
Last eruption
-2900
Tectonic setting
Intraplate / Continental crust (> 25 km)
Landform
Cluster
Major rock type
Trachybasalt / Tephrite Basanite
Geological summary

The voluminous Newer Volcanics Province covers a broad 15,000 km2 area of SE Australia with nearly 400 small shield volcanoes and explosive vents of Tertiary-to-Holocene age. Volumetrically the vast proportion of volcanic products consist of flat-lying lava flows, although the most prominent features of the volcanic field are the numerous small scoria cones, tuff rings, and maars that rise above the lava plain. Several vents were active during the Holocene; another vent (Mount Tower) is now considered to be of late-Pleistocene age. Late-Pleistocene to Holocene eruptions are characterized by small volume and low explosivity. The youngest dated eruptions took place at Mount Schank and Mount Gambier about 5,000 years ago, when explosive activity formed several maars and associated lava flows.

From Wikipedia

The Newer Volcanics Province is a geological area which is a volcanic field, formed by the East Australia hotspot across south-eastern Australia. It covers an area of 15,000 square kilometres (5,800 sq mi), with over 400 small shield volcanoes and volcanic vents. The area contains the youngest volcanoes in Australia.

Wikipedia · CC BY-SA · Read full article →

Eruption history

Summary (VEI over time)
Click a bar to see individual eruptions
5850 BCE~5653 BCE · 1 eruptions · max VEI ?5457 BCE~5260 BCE · 1 eruptions · max VEI ?3097 BCE~2900 BCE · 2 eruptions · max VEI ?5850 BCE5063 BCE4473 BCE3687 BCE3097 BCE

Detailed timeline

  1. 2900 BCE (±150 yrs)VEI ?Geological estimate
    BCE 2900 – Ongoing
    Mt. Gambier
  2. 3000 BCE (±500 yrs)VEI ?Geological estimate
    BCE 3000 – Ongoing
    Mt. Schank
  3. 5290 BCEVEI ?Geological estimate
    BCE 5290 – Ongoing
    Mt. Napier
  4. 5850 BCEVEI ?Geological estimate
    BCE 5850 – Ongoing
    Red Rock

External links

⚠ For reference only. Not for emergency response.