Tower Hill (volcano)
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Tower Hill is an inactive
volcano A volcano is a rupture in the crust of a planetary-mass object, such as Earth, that allows hot lava, volcanic ash, and gases to escape from a magma chamber below the surface. On Earth, volcanoes are most often found where tectonic plates are ...
on the south-west coast of
Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada * Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory * Victoria, Seychelle ...
, Australia, approximately west of
Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...
, and north-west of
Warrnambool Warrnambool ( Maar: ''Peetoop'' or ''Wheringkernitch'' or ''Warrnambool'') is a city on the south-western coast of Victoria, Australia. At the 2021 census, Warrnambool had a population of 35,743. Situated on the Princes Highway, Warrnambool (Al ...
. The Tower Hill crater is roughly wide and high, with a gradient of between 10% to 80% at the higher points. Within the crater, a series of later volcanic explosions formed a number of scoria cones and spheres, surrounded by a
crater lake Crater Lake (Klamath language, Klamath: ''Giiwas'') is a volcanic crater lake in south-central Oregon in the western United States. It is the main feature of Crater Lake National Park and is famous for its deep blue color and water clarity. The ...
. Being a giant nested maar, Tower Hill is of international
geological Geology () is a branch of natural science concerned with Earth and other astronomical objects, the features or rocks of which it is composed, and the processes by which they change over time. Modern geology significantly overlaps all other E ...
significance. The Dhauwurdwurrung name for the volcano is ''Koroitj''.


History

Aboriginal Australian Aboriginal Australians are the various Indigenous peoples of the Australian mainland and many of its islands, such as Tasmania, Fraser Island, Hinchinbrook Island, the Tiwi Islands, and Groote Eylandt, but excluding the Torres Strait Islands ...
kitchen
midden A midden (also kitchen midden or shell heap) is an old dump for domestic waste which may consist of animal bone, human excrement, botanical material, mollusc shells, potsherds, lithics (especially debitage), and other artifacts and ecofact ...
s at Tower Hill contain 5000-year-old
Tasmanian devil The Tasmanian devil (''Sarcophilus harrisii'') (palawa kani: purinina) is a carnivorous marsupial of the family Dasyuridae. Until recently, it was only found on the island state of Tasmania, but it has been reintroduced to New South Wales in ...
bones. Greenstone axe heads and other artefacts excavated from the
tuff Tuff is a type of rock made of volcanic ash ejected from a vent during a volcanic eruption. Following ejection and deposition, the ash is lithified into a solid rock. Rock that contains greater than 75% ash is considered tuff, while rock cont ...
indicate that Aboriginal people were resident in the area when the volcano erupted. A
basalt Basalt (; ) is an aphanite, aphanitic (fine-grained) extrusive igneous rock formed from the rapid cooling of low-viscosity lava rich in magnesium and iron (mafic lava) exposed at or very near the planetary surface, surface of a terrestrial ...
tool dubbed the "Bushfield Axe", found buried under
volcanic ash Volcanic ash consists of fragments of rock, mineral crystals, and volcanic glass, created during volcano, volcanic eruptions and measuring less than 2 mm (0.079 inches) in diameter. The term volcanic ash is also often loosely used t ...
near Tower Hill in 1947, was particularly significant. The archaeological evidence aligns with local people's
oral histories Oral history is the collection and study of historical information about individuals, families, important events, or everyday life using audiotapes, videotapes, or transcriptions of planned interviews. These interviews are conducted with people wh ...
of volcanic eruptions, indicating the longevity and truth of those histories. The Koroitgundidj people long inhabited this region of Australia, and their descendants retain special links with the area. In 1990, the most recent eruption was dated to 25,000 BP. However, in February 2020, a study was carried out by the
University of Melbourne The University of Melbourne is a public research university located in Melbourne, Australia. Founded in 1853, it is Australia's second oldest university and the oldest in Victoria. Its main campus is located in Parkville, an inner suburb nor ...
's School of Earth Sciences' David Phillips and three other researchers, using a more sophisticated form of
radiometric dating Radiometric dating, radioactive dating or radioisotope dating is a technique which is used to date materials such as rocks or carbon, in which trace radioactive impurities were selectively incorporated when they were formed. The method compares t ...
known as argon-argon dating, showed that both the Budj Bim and Tower Hill volcanoes erupted at least 34,000 years ago. Specifically, the Tower Hill eruption was dated at within 3,800 years either side of 36,800 years BP. Significantly, that is a "minimum age constraint for human presence in Victoria", and also could be interpreted as evidence for the
Gunditjmara The Gunditjmara or Gunditjamara, also known as Dhauwurd Wurrung, are an Aboriginal Australian people of southwestern Victoria. They are the traditional owners of the areas now encompassing Warrnambool, Port Fairy, Woolsthorpe and Portland. Th ...
oral histories which tell of volcanic eruptions being some of the oldest oral traditions in existence. The first confirmed sighting of Tower Hill by Europeans was in 1802, by French explorers sailing with
Nicolas Baudin Nicolas Thomas Baudin (; 17 February 1754 – 16 September 1803) was a French explorer, cartographer, naturalist and hydrographer, most notable for his explorations in Australia and the southern Pacific. Biography Early career Born a comm ...
on '' Géographe''. Matthew Flinders sailed east along the southern coast of Australia and, on 20 April 1802, referred in the ship's log to "Peaked Hill Position uncertain", which may refer to Tower Hill. In 1855, the Hill was painted by the artist
Eugene von Guerard Johann Joseph Eugene von GuérardHis first name is variously spelled "Eugen", "Eugene", "Eugène", one source mentions "Jean" (instead of "Johann"); his surname is spelled "Guerard" or "Guérard". The most frequent combination is that used by t ...
, the foremost landscape artist in the colonies at the time. The painting ''Tower Hill, 1855'' is now in the Warrnambool Art Gallery. The painting was used as a source of information of local native vegetation when an extensive
revegetation Revegetation is the process of replanting and rebuilding the soil of disturbed land. This may be a natural process produced by plant colonization and succession, manmade rewilding projects, accelerated process designed to repair damage to a lan ...
project was undertaken in the
Tower Hill Wildlife Reserve Tower Hill Wildlife Reserve, formerly Tower Hill State Game Reserve, is a protected area located in the Australian state of Victoria (Australia), Victoria, approximately west of Melbourne, Australia, Melbourne, and north-west of Warrnambool. I ...
from 1961.


Naming

The origin of the English name, Tower Hill, is not certain. One source suggests that it arose in the 1840s owing to its resemblance to a
castle A castle is a type of fortified structure built during the Middle Ages predominantly by the nobility or royalty and by military orders. Scholars debate the scope of the word ''castle'', but usually consider it to be the private fortified r ...
, while another credits a sailor from Glasgow with "naming the site after Tower Hill in Scotland".


Location

The town of
Koroit Koroit is a small rural town in western Victoria, Australia a few kilometres north of the Princes Highway, north-west of Warrnambool and west of Melbourne. It is in the Shire of Moyne local government area located amidst rolling green past ...
is on the north rim of Tower Hill, within easy reach of both
Warrnambool Warrnambool ( Maar: ''Peetoop'' or ''Wheringkernitch'' or ''Warrnambool'') is a city on the south-western coast of Victoria, Australia. At the 2021 census, Warrnambool had a population of 35,743. Situated on the Princes Highway, Warrnambool (Al ...
and
Port Fairy Port Fairy (historically known as Belfast) is a coastal town in south-western Victoria, Australia. It lies on the Princes Highway in the Shire of Moyne, west of Warrnambool and west of Melbourne, at the point where the Moyne River enters the ...
. The volcano is located about west of Melbourne and north-west of
Warrnambool Warrnambool ( Maar: ''Peetoop'' or ''Wheringkernitch'' or ''Warrnambool'') is a city on the south-western coast of Victoria, Australia. At the 2021 census, Warrnambool had a population of 35,743. Situated on the Princes Highway, Warrnambool (Al ...
.


Description

Tower Hill's formation is known as a "nested maar", the largest of its type in Victoria. It was created by molten
lava Lava is molten or partially molten rock (magma) that has been expelled from the interior of a terrestrial planet (such as Earth) or a moon onto its surface. Lava may be erupted at a volcano or through a fracture in the crust, on land or un ...
pushing its way up through the
Earth's crust Earth's crust is Earth's thin outer shell of rock, referring to less than 1% of Earth's radius and volume. It is the top component of the lithosphere, a division of Earth's layers that includes the crust and the upper part of the mantle. The ...
, before hitting a layer of water-bearing rock, which led to huge explosions. A shallow crater was left, later becoming a lake after it filled with rainwater. Subsequent to this, later eruptions occurred in the centre of this crater-lake, pushing up islands and cone-shaped hills, known as scoria cones. It is "one of the largest eruption points of the Pleistocene
Newer Volcanics Province 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 , with over 400 small shield volcanoes and volcanic vents. The area contain ...
of Victoria". The main crater is by . Within the steep-walled tuff ring is a crater with a depth of over . Because of the complex nature of its formation and structure, and as one of the largest maars in the world, it is of great geological significance both nationally as internationally. Tower Hill volcano is roughly wide and high, and as a giant maar (volcanic explosion crater), it is of international and national geological significance. It has a gradient of between 10% to 80% at the higher points.


Reserve

Now part of the state park system as the
Tower Hill Wildlife Reserve Tower Hill Wildlife Reserve, formerly Tower Hill State Game Reserve, is a protected area located in the Australian state of Victoria (Australia), Victoria, approximately west of Melbourne, Australia, Melbourne, and north-west of Warrnambool. I ...
, the area had been used since European settlement for farming and stone
quarry A quarry is a type of open-pit mine in which dimension stone, rock, construction aggregate, riprap, sand, gravel, or slate is excavated from the ground. The operation of quarries is regulated in some jurisdictions to reduce their envi ...
ing. The area has been reforested with native
flora Flora is all the plant life present in a particular region or time, generally the naturally occurring (indigenous) native plants. Sometimes bacteria and fungi are also referred to as flora, as in the terms '' gut flora'' or '' skin flora''. E ...
, and repopulated with native
fauna Fauna is all of the animal life present in a particular region or time. The corresponding term for plants is ''flora'', and for fungi, it is '' funga''. Flora, fauna, funga and other forms of life are collectively referred to as '' biota''. Zoo ...
since 1961.


Brown's Quarry

Brown's Quarry, on the southern side, was created in about 1951, but since around 1977 has only been used for dumping clean
landfill A landfill site, also known as a tip, dump, rubbish dump, garbage dump, or dumping ground, is a site for the disposal of waste materials. Landfill is the oldest and most common form of waste disposal, although the systematic burial of the waste ...
. there is debate about what to do with the site next. The owners of the quarry would like to fill the quarry and restore the vegetation, arguing that this would make the perimeter of the volcano safer and allow a walking track to be built around it (which is part of the Tower Hill master plan), but geologists say that the wall of the quarry is very important for scientific analysis and understanding of the geology of the area and volcanoes in general, which is evolving all the time.


Gallery


See also

*
List of volcanoes in Australia This is a list of active, dormant and extinct volcanoes in Australia and its island territories. Note that the term volcano is used loosely as it can include groups of related volcanoes and vents that erupted at similar times with lava of r ...
(active and dormant)


Notes


External links

* *{{official, http://www.towerhill.org.au/, Worn Gundidj: Tower Hill Bodies of water of Victoria (Australia) Volcanoes of Victoria (Australia) Maars of Australia Volcanic crater lakes Inactive volcanoes Pleistocene volcanoes Western District (Victoria) Mountains of Victoria (Australia) Archaeological sites in Victoria (Australia)