The Wannon Falls are a
punchbowl waterfall located in the
Southern Grampians Shire, approximately west of
Hamilton Hamilton may refer to:
People
* Hamilton (name), a common British surname and occasional given name, usually of Scottish origin, including a list of persons with the surname
** The Duke of Hamilton, the premier peer of Scotland
** Lord Hamilt ...
, in western
Victoria,
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 falls are fed by the
Wannon River
The Wannon River, a perennial river of the Glenelg Hopkins catchment, is located in the Western District of Victoria, Australia.
Name
The name of the river "is believed to have been obtained by Major Mitchell from the local Jardwadjali peopl ...
that has its head waters in the
Grampians mountains.
Location and features
The falls are unexpected after driving west across gently undulating
lava plains
Lava fields are large, mostly flat areas of surface or subaquatic lava flows. Such features are generally composed of highly fluid basalt lava, and can extend for tens or hundreds of miles across the underlying terrain.
Morphology and stru ...
. They plunge over 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 ...
lava cliff dropping into a large plunge pool below. In the winter wet season they can be spectacular, and at the end of the summer dry season they may shrink to a mere trickle. Downstream of the falls there is a narrow steep-walled valley, with cascades around large blocks that have fallen in from the sides. The narrow valley was eroded as the falls retreated upstream as a result of undermining of a soft bed of sediments that underlies the hard basalt.
Adjacent to the falls there is a recreational reserve with picnic areas and some interpretation signs, and a larger scenic reserve that has natural native vegetation and some disturbed areas that have been replanted with natives.
See also
*
List of waterfalls of Victoria
*
Nigretta Falls
References
External links
Shire of Southern Grampians*
Waterfalls of Victoria (state)
Tourist attractions in Victoria (state)
Punch bowl waterfalls
Grampians (national park)
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