Smooth Island, is a privately owned

island An island (or isle) is an isolated piece of habitat that is surrounded by a dramatically different habitat, such as water. Very small islands such as emergent land features on atolls can be called islets, skerries, cays or keys. An island ...

with an area of lying close to the south-eastern coast of

Tasmania ) , nickname = , image_map = Tasmania in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Tasmania in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdi ...

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 ...

. The island is part of the

Sloping Island Group The Sloping Island Group is a group of small islands in south-eastern Tasmania in Australia. They lie close to the south-eastern coast of Tasmania around the Tasman and Forestier Peninsulas.Brothers, Nigel; Pemberton, David; Pryor, Helen; & Ha ...

situated in

Norfolk Bay The Norfolk Bay is a body of water in the south east of Tasmania, Australia. The north west aspect of Norfolk Bay is continuous with Frederick Henry Bay. The north east aspect of Norfolk Bay is continuous with Blackman Bay via the Denison Can ...

and surrounded by the Tasman and

Forestier Peninsula The Forestier Peninsula is a peninsula located in south-east Tasmania, Australia, approximately by the Arthur Highway, south-east of Hobart. The peninsula is connected to mainland Tasmania at East Bay Neck, near the town of at its northern e ...

s. The towns Dunalley and Murdunna are nearby. Smooth Island differs from other Tasmanian islands as it has an unencumbered

freehold Freehold may refer to: In real estate *Freehold (law), the tenure of property in fee simple *Customary freehold, a form of feudal tenure of land in England *Parson's freehold, where a Church of England rector or vicar of holds title to benefice p ...

title down to the

high-water mark A high water mark is a point that represents the maximum rise of a body of water over land. Such a mark is often the result of a flood, but high water marks may reflect an all-time high, an annual high (highest level to which water rose that ...

Administration

For administrative purposes, the island is within the

Tasman Council Tasman Council is a local government body in Tasmania, situated in the south-east of the state. Tasman is classified as a rural local government area and has a population of 2,404, the region covers both the Tasman and Forestier peninsulas, ...

, the land district of Pembroke, the legislative council of Rumney and the electorate of Lyons at

state State may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Literature * ''State Magazine'', a monthly magazine published by the U.S. Department of State * ''The State'' (newspaper), a daily newspaper in Columbia, South Carolina, United States * ''Our S ...

and

federal Federal or foederal (archaic) may refer to: Politics General *Federal monarchy, a federation of monarchies *Federation, or ''Federal state'' (federal system), a type of government characterized by both a central (federal) government and states or ...

levels. It lies within the Fire Management Area Committee Boundary (FMAC) of 'East Coast'. Smooth Island is privately owned; it has a

title with no covenants. In 2014 Smooth Island was gazetted as a Private Forest Timber Reserve. The coast line from the Smooth Island waterline has been classified Zone 23 (Environmental management) under the Tasman Interim Planning Scheme 2015.

Access

Smooth island is private property to the coastal high-water mark; unauthorised public access, including mooring of vessels, is prohibited. Subject to authorisation, Smooth Island is easily accessible by boat and helicopter. The island's terrain is suited to the construction of a small airstrip.

Services

The island receives radio coverage from

ABC Local Radio ABC Local Radio is a network of publicly owned radio stations in Australia, operated by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. ABC Local Radio stations broadcast across the continent using terrestrial transmitters and satellites. Its programm ...

(936 AM), 3G mobile phone coverage from

Telstra Telstra Group Limited is an Australian telecommunications company that builds and operates telecommunications networks and markets voice, mobile, internet access, pay television and other products and services. It is a member of the S&P/ASX 20 ...

and wireless coverage from the

National Broadband Network The National Broadband Network (NBN) is an Australian national wholesale open-access data network. It includes wired and radio communication components rolled out and operated by NBN Co, a Government-owned corporation. Internet service provider ...

. The table below outlines the nearest services and facilities to Smooth Island. }" group="note">, , 6 km, , –, , –, , , - , Wireless internet transmission tower, , National Broadband Network , , , , , , 6 km, , –, , –, , , - , Fuel, , Shell Dunalley, , 119 Arthur Hwy, Dunalley, Tas 7177, , , , 6.5 km, , 6.5 km, , 9 km, , , - , General store, , Dunalley Supermarket, , 168 Arthur Hwy, Dunalley, Tas 7177, , , , 6.7 km, , 6.7 km, , 9 km, , , - , Large shopping centre, , Sorell plaza shopping centre, , Cole Street, Sorell, Tas 7172, , , , 25 km, , 29 km, , 40 km, ,

Recreational fishing

"All waters 200 metres seaward from the low water mark of Smooth Island: Shark Refuge Area. No taking of shark, skates or rays, except elephantfish. Where permitted, graball nets must not be set for more than 2 hours and can only be set from sunrise until one hour before sunset. No mullet nets. No set lines (ong lines and drop lines)."

Geography

Smooth Island lies from both Dunbabin Point and Chronicle Point on the mainland, and from King George Island, measured from the nearest coastlines. The island has two hilly peaks separated by a saddle.North Peak: . South Peak:. Saddle: The height above sea level of the North peak, South peak and saddle are , and respectively.Measured on 30 December 2015 using barometric function of Garmin Monterra. Sea level calibrated to 0 metres when tide was at . After the first set of measurements the device was recalibrated to sea level () and the altitude of the three features was reassessed, increasing the altitude of all points by . It is the second set of measurements which have been recorded. Conditions: pressure , humidity 53%, NE wind, no rain, dew point .Other data suggests the north peak is 39.95m above sea level, and south peak 36.81m above sea level. Se
this link
for evidence.

Climate

See here for live data fro
Smooth Island's Weather Station

Geology

Smooth Island consists of

diabase Diabase (), also called dolerite () or microgabbro, is a mafic, holocrystalline, subvolcanic rock equivalent to volcanic basalt or plutonic gabbro. Diabase dikes and sills are typically shallow intrusive bodies and often exhibit fine-graine ...

dolerite Diabase (), also called dolerite () or microgabbro, is a mafic, holocrystalline, subvolcanic rock equivalent to volcanic basalt or plutonic gabbro. Diabase dikes and sills are typically shallow intrusive bodies and often exhibit fine-grained ...

rock, a subvolcanic intrusion that probably occurred from during the

Eocene The Eocene ( ) Epoch is a geological epoch (geology), epoch that lasted from about 56 to 33.9 million years ago (mya). It is the second epoch of the Paleogene Period (geology), Period in the modern Cenozoic Era (geology), Era. The name ''Eocene' ...

epoch In chronology and periodization, an epoch or reference epoch is an instant in time chosen as the origin of a particular calendar era. The "epoch" serves as a reference point from which time is measured. The moment of epoch is usually decided by ...

of the

Cenozoic The Cenozoic ( ; ) is Earth's current geological era, representing the last 66million years of Earth's history. It is characterised by the dominance of mammals, birds and flowering plants, a cooling and drying climate, and the current configura ...

era. A geological survey identified consolidated, brownish, fine-grained quartz sandstone occurring on the island's north-east coastline at approximately above sea level, covered by sand. It was said to be similar to the sandstone samples retrieved from South Arm that contained numerous fossils but no fossils were found in the samples taken from Smooth Island. The western aspect of the island contains dolerite (tholeiitic) with locally developed

granophyre Granophyre ( ; from ''granite'' and ''porphyry'') is a subvolcanic rock that contains quartz and alkali feldspar in characteristic angular intergrowths such as those in the accompanying image. The texture is called granophyric. The texture can be ...

from the

Jurassic The Jurassic ( ) is a Geological period, geologic period and System (stratigraphy), stratigraphic system that spanned from the end of the Triassic Period million years ago (Mya) to the beginning of the Cretaceous Period, approximately Mya. The J ...

period. The water table is classified as a surficial sediment aquifer (porous media – unconsolidated). Because the island predominantly has a sloping hard rock shore, there is little vulnerability to flooding or erosion due to a rise in sea level. A coastal acid sulfate soil analysis produced a result of "extremely low" along the north and north-east side of the island.

Ecosystem

See here for an overview o
Smooth Island's fauna and flora
Smooth Island seabirds

Marine ecology

Smooth Island is surrounded by a low-profile reef. A region of gravel or ''hard sand'' extends from the reef on the eastern coast towards King George Island and

King George Sound King George Sound ( nys , Menang Koort) is a sound on the south coast of Western Australia. Named King George the Third's Sound in 1791, it was referred to as King George's Sound from 1805. The name "King George Sound" gradually came into use ...

. The reef on the western coast is surrounded by sand and a body of silt approaches the south-west coast of the island. Between Smooth Island and King George Island lies a dense bed of

seagrass Seagrasses are the only flowering plants which grow in marine environments. There are about 60 species of fully marine seagrasses which belong to four families (Posidoniaceae, Zosteraceae, Hydrocharitaceae and Cymodoceaceae), all in the orde ...

(''Halophila australis'') and

eelgrass Eelgrass is a common name for several plants and may refer to: * ''Zostera'', marine eelgrass * ''Vallisneria'', freshwater eelgrass {{Short pages monitor