The Berserker Range is a mountainous region located on the eastern and northeastern boundary of the city of

Rockhampton Rockhampton is a city in the Rockhampton Region of Central Queensland, Australia. The population of Rockhampton in June 2021 was 79,967, Estimated resident population, 30 June 2018. making it the fourth-largest city in the state outside of the ...

Central Queensland Central Queensland is an ambiguous geographical division of Queensland ( a state in Australia) that centres on the eastern coast, around the Tropic of Capricorn. Its major regional centre is Rockhampton. The region extends from the Capricorn Coas ...

, Australia. Within it lies

Mount Archer National Park Mount Archer National Park is a national park in Central Queensland, Australia, northwest of Brisbane. It makes up the backdrop to the city of Rockhampton which marks the start of Tropical Queensland. It comprises of open forests and woodland ...

. It has been designated the ''Berserker Range Environmental Protection Area'' by the

Rockhampton Regional Council The Rockhampton Region is a local government area (LGA) in Central Queensland, Australia, located on the Tropic of Capricorn about north of Brisbane. Rockhampton is the region's major city; the region also includes the Fitzroy River, Mount A ...

. The southernmost part of the range reaches the Fitzroy River at Broadmount, east of Rockhampton.

Geology

The range is composed of a diverse group of mostly

igneous rock Igneous rock (derived from the Latin word ''ignis'' meaning fire), or magmatic rock, is one of the three main The three types of rocks, rock types, the others being Sedimentary rock, sedimentary and metamorphic rock, metamorphic. Igneous rock ...

s dating from the

Devonian The Devonian ( ) is a geologic period and system of the Paleozoic era, spanning 60.3 million years from the end of the Silurian, million years ago (Mya), to the beginning of the Carboniferous, Mya. It is named after Devon, England, whe ...

Early Triassic The Early Triassic is the first of three epochs of the Triassic Period of the geologic timescale. It spans the time between Ma and Ma (million years ago). Rocks from this epoch are collectively known as the Lower Triassic Series, which is a un ...

Periods. It has its origins in the

Early Permian 01 or '01 may refer to: * The year 2001, or any year ending with 01 * The month of January * 1 (number) Music * '01 (Richard Müller album), 01'' (Richard Müller album), 2001 * 01 (Son of Dave album), ''01'' (Son of Dave album), 2000 * 01 (Urban ...

period around 275 million years ago, when the original segment of

continental crust Continental crust is the layer of igneous, sedimentary, and metamorphic rocks that forms the geological continents and the areas of shallow seabed close to their shores, known as continental shelves. This layer is sometimes called ''sial'' be ...

stretched and subsequently sagged, leading to the development of two faults and subsequent volcanic activity. Much of the rocky outcrops and peaks of elevated areas are composed of masses of

rhyolite Rhyolite ( ) is the most silica-rich of volcanic rocks. It is generally glassy or fine-grained (aphanitic) in texture, but may be porphyritic, containing larger mineral crystals (phenocrysts) in an otherwise fine-grained groundmass. The mineral ...

and

dacite Dacite () is a volcanic rock formed by rapid solidification of lava that is high in silica and low in alkali metal oxides. It has a fine-grained (aphanitic) to porphyritic texture and is intermediate in composition between andesite and rhyolite. ...

and known as ''Elliott Rhyolite''. These masses then erode, with the deposits forming a dark grey material known as ''Sleipner Member''. Not all the elevated areas are rhyolite; Mount Dick and Mount MacDonald, are mainly composed of

breccia Breccia () is a rock composed of large angular broken fragments of minerals or rocks cemented together by a fine-grained matrix. The word has its origins in the Italian language, in which it means "rubble". A breccia may have a variety of di ...

History

Historically, the region was home to the Raki-warra clan of the local

Darumbal The Darumbal people, also spelt Dharumbal, are the Aboriginal Australians that have traditionally occupied Central Queensland, speaking dialects of the Darumbal language. Darumbal people of the Keppel Islands and surrounding regions are sometime ...

indigenous people. It was named by Rockhampton pioneer pastoralist Charles Archer after the Norse warrior " Baresark", who fought without armour in the Norwegian sagas. Although born in Scotland, the Archer family lived for many years in

Larvik Larvik () is a List of cities in Norway, town and Municipalities of Norway, municipality in Vestfold in Vestfold og Telemark Counties of Norway, county, Norway. The administrative centre of the municipality is the city of Larvik. The municipality ...

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and t ...

and members of the family moved between Queensland and Norway throughout their lives. A small amount of gold mining took place in the 19th century, and grazing leases were issued in 1900. The area was declared a timber reserve in 1940 and logged, with ironbark, white mahogany and lemon-scented gum being the main trees harvested. Grazing ended in 1974 with the conclusion of the last lease, and logging ceased in 1985.

References

{{reflist Rockhampton Mountain ranges of Queensland

Geology

History

See also

References