The
Australia
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...
n island state of
Tasmania
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, nickname =
, image_map = Tasmania in Australia.svg
, map_caption = Location of Tasmania in AustraliaCoordinates:
, subdivision_type = Country
, subdi ...
has a diverse range of geography but a prominent feature is the
mountain
A mountain is an elevated portion of the Earth's crust, generally with steep sides that show significant exposed bedrock. Although definitions vary, a mountain may differ from a plateau in having a limited Summit (topography), summit area, and ...
s of the island.
Overall Tasmania is comparatively low-lying with the highest point at . Tasmania has ten peaks over the height of . With thirty peaks higher than , it is one of the most mountainous islands in the world, and Tasmania is Australia's most mountainous state.
The majority of the mountain peaks of Tasmania are located in the
Western half of the state, starting at the coast in the
South West
The points of the compass are a set of horizontal, radially arrayed compass directions (or azimuths) used in navigation and cartography. A compass rose is primarily composed of four cardinal directions—north, east, south, and west—each sepa ...
and extending inland to the north, or in the
Central Highlands.
Tasmania's mountains were part of an ancient range of volcanic peaks from the period of
Gondwana
Gondwana () was a large landmass, often referred to as a supercontinent, that formed during the late Neoproterozoic (about 550 million years ago) and began to break up during the Jurassic period (about 180 million years ago). The final stages ...
, and are the source of a large portion of Tasmania's wealth in the form of mining. Although the eastern half of the state is generally lower and flatter, there are still sizeable peaks located there, such as
kunanyi / Mt Wellington.
Notable peaks
The following notable mountain peaks in Tasmania range in heights from
above sea level
Height above mean sea level is a measure of the vertical distance (height, elevation or altitude) of a location in reference to a historic mean sea level taken as a vertical datum. In geodesy, it is formalized as ''orthometric heights''.
The comb ...
.
Historical peaks
As late as the mid-1950s adequate surveying of the mountains had not been completed - with the height of 19 peaks described as ''about'' in the list in
Walch's Tasmanian Almanac
''Walch's Tasmanian Almanac'' was an almanac produced in Hobart, Tasmania, Hobart by J Walch and Sons from the 1850s until 1980.
It had a range of variant titles over the time that it was published, but was commonly known as ''Walch's Almanac'' ...
of the over 115 peaks mentioned
[''Walch's Tasmanian Almanac'' for 1956 - pp.416-417] The lack of sufficient surveying at that time also had the order of the top 10 peaks had:
# Mount Ossa
# Legges Tor
# Barn Bluff
# Mount Pelion West
# Cradle Mountain
# Stack's Bluff
# Mount Gould
# Mount Rufus
# Eldon Peak
#
Mount Olympus
Mount Olympus (; el, Όλυμπος, Ólympos, also , ) is the highest mountain in Greece. It is part of the Olympus massif near the Thermaic Gulf of the Aegean Sea, located in the Olympus Range on the border between Thessaly and Macedonia, be ...
When Wilkinson did his 'The Abels' in 1994, items 1-9 were the same as the current list, however Mount Geryon was not in the Abels list, and Mount Gould had not been adequately given height data at that stage.
[* Wilkinson, Bill. (1994) ''The Abels: Tasmania’s mountains over 1100 m high'' Launceston, Tas.: Regal Publications . page 43+ ''Table B'' - The Abels arranged in Order of Altitude.]
See also
*
Tasmap Tasmap is the main government authority for the state of Tasmania in Australia for the mapping and management of land information systems for the state.
In earlier decades most Australian mapping departments were known by the common name of the '' ...
and links for indication of the mapping of these mountains
Notes
Further reading
* Caine, Nel. (1983) ''The mountains of northeastern Tasmania: a study of alpine geomorphology'' Rotterdam: Balkema; Salem, NH, USA. .
* Wilkinson, Bill. (1994) ''The Abels: Tasmania’s mountains over 1100 m high'' Launceston, Tas.: Regal Publications .
External links
Top 10 peaksPeak-Bagger's Guide to Tasmanian MountainsA List of Tasmania's High Places (compiled by the Bushwalk-Tasmania forum)
{{Tasmanian mountains, state=autocollapse
Tasmania
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, nickname =
, image_map = Tasmania in Australia.svg
, map_caption = Location of Tasmania in AustraliaCoordinates:
, subdivision_type = Country
, subdi ...
Tasmania
)
, nickname =
, image_map = Tasmania in Australia.svg
, map_caption = Location of Tasmania in AustraliaCoordinates:
, subdivision_type = Country
, subdi ...
Mountains
A mountain is an elevated portion of the Earth's crust, generally with steep sides that show significant exposed bedrock. Although definitions vary, a mountain may differ from a plateau in having a limited summit area, and is usually higher th ...