West Mount Barren is part of the

Fitzgerald River National Park Fitzgerald River National Park is a national park in the Shires of Ravensthorpe and the Jerramungup in Western Australia, southeast of Perth. The park is recognised on Australia's National Heritage List for its outstanding diversity of native ...

located between

Bremer Bay Bremer may refer to: People *Bremer (surname) *Bremer Ehrler (born 1914), American politician * Bremer (born 1997), Brazilian footballer Places ;Australia *Bremer Bay, Western Australia *Bremer Marine Park *Bremer Island * Bremer River (disambigua ...

and Hopetoun on the south coast of

Western Australia Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to th ...

the coordinates of the

summit A summit is a point on a surface that is higher in elevation than all points immediately adjacent to it. The topography, topographic terms acme, apex, peak (mountain peak), and zenith are synonymous. The term (mountain top) is generally used ...

of West Mount Barren are . West Mount Barren, along with

East Mount Barren East Mount Barren is a quartzite peak of the Barren Range in Fitzgerald River National Park. It was sighted and named by explorer Matthew Flinders on 6 January 1802, together with two other peaks in the range, West Mount Barren and Middle Moun ...

and Mid-Mount Barren were all named by

Matthew Flinders Captain Matthew Flinders (16 March 1774 – 19 July 1814) was a British navigator and cartographer who led the first inshore circumnavigation of mainland Australia, then called New Holland. He is also credited as being the first person to u ...

in 1802 after their barren appearance.

Description

West Mount Barren rises 372 metres above sea level and forms part of the Barren Range within the national park. Mount Bland (320 metres) is the closest mountain feature and is situated approximately 5 km northeast from West Mount Barren. The Barren range is not continuous and although there are three distinct Mount Barrens (West, Mid and East) they are distinct peaks that are connected by coastal plain. Mid Mount Barren is approximately 20 km northeast of West Mount Barren and

is approximately 50 km northeast of West Mount Barren. Other peaks in the area include Woolbernup Hill, Thumb Peak, Mt Drummond and Mt Maxwell. West Mount Barren is accessible by an unsealed road suitable for 2WD vehicles that runs off Pabelup Drive. A carpark with a plaque at the base of the mountain marks the beginning of a track that is an easy two hour return walk to the summit. Visitors are encouraged to stay on the footpath so as to minimise the spread of

dieback Dieback may refer to a number of plant problems and diseases including: * Forest dieback caused by acid rain, heavy metal pollution, or imported pathogens * The death of regions of a plant or similar organism caused by physical damage, such as from ...

which is a threat to the native plants of the area. A commanding view of the national park and the coastline is seen from the summit.

Geology

The Ravensthorpe region is underlain by basement rocks of the Albany-Fraser

Orogen An orogenic belt, or orogen, is a zone of Earth's crust affected by orogeny. An orogenic belt develops when a continental plate crumples and is Tectonic uplift, uplifted to form one or more mountain ranges; this involves a series of geological pr ...

and

Yilgarn Craton The Yilgarn Craton is a large craton that constitutes the bulk of the Western Australian land mass. It is bounded by a mixture of sedimentary basins and Proterozoic fold and thrust belts. Zircon grains in the Jack Hills, Narryer Terrane have be ...

. These rocks consist of

granite Granite () is a coarse-grained (phaneritic) intrusive igneous rock composed mostly of quartz, alkali feldspar, and plagioclase. It forms from magma with a high content of silica and alkali metal oxides that slowly cools and solidifies undergro ...

gneiss Gneiss ( ) is a common and widely distributed type of metamorphic rock. It is formed by high-temperature and high-pressure metamorphic processes acting on formations composed of igneous or sedimentary rocks. Gneiss forms at higher temperatures an ...

and minor enclaves of

sedimentary Sedimentary rocks are types of rock (geology), rock that are formed by the accumulation or deposition of mineral or organic matter, organic particles at Earth#Surface, Earth's surface, followed by cementation (geology), cementation. Sedimentati ...

and

volcanic 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 a ...

rocks. The Barren Ranges consist of metasediments, mostly folded and faulted

quartzite Quartzite is a hard, non- foliated metamorphic rock which was originally pure quartz sandstone.Essentials of Geology, 3rd Edition, Stephen Marshak, p 182 Sandstone is converted into quartzite through heating and pressure usually related to tect ...

phyllite Phyllite ( ) is a type of foliated metamorphic rock created from slate that is further metamorphosed so that very fine grained white mica achieves a preferred orientation.Stephen Marshak ''Essentials of Geology'', 3rd ed. It is primarily compo ...

dolomite Dolomite may refer to: *Dolomite (mineral), a carbonate mineral *Dolomite (rock), also known as dolostone, a sedimentary carbonate rock *Dolomite, Alabama, United States, an unincorporated community *Dolomite, California, United States, an unincor ...

and conglomerate. The Barrens are composed of rock beds that have been tilted and folded. These rock beds were once layers of sand deposited on the sea floor. They were subsequently compressed, heated and

uplifted ''Uplifted'' is the second studio album by Nigerian singer Flavour N'abania. It was released on July 20, 2010, by Obaino Music and 2nite Entertainment. The album features guest appearances from Jay Dey, Oloye, Stormrex, Waga Gee, Asemstone, M-Jay, ...

by movements of the Earth's crust.

Botany

The

vegetation Vegetation is an assemblage of plant species and the ground cover they provide. It is a general term, without specific reference to particular taxa, life forms, structure, spatial extent, or any other specific botanical or geographic character ...

surrounding West Mount Barren is best described as scrub-heath with many types of shrubs that thrive in the

quartzitic Quartzite is a hard, non- foliated metamorphic rock which was originally pure quartz sandstone.Essentials of Geology, 3rd Edition, Stephen Marshak, p 182 Sandstone is converted into quartzite through heating and pressure usually related to tect ...

lateritic Laterite is both a soil and a rock type rich in iron and aluminium and is commonly considered to have formed in hot and wet tropical areas. Nearly all laterites are of rusty-red coloration, because of high iron oxide content. They develop by ...

sand Sand is a granular material composed of finely divided mineral particles. Sand has various compositions but is defined by its grain size. Sand grains are smaller than gravel and coarser than silt. Sand can also refer to a textural class of s ...

, often in rocky situations. The shrubs are mostly

Proteaceae The Proteaceae form a family of flowering plants predominantly distributed in the Southern Hemisphere. The family comprises 83 genera with about 1,660 known species. Together with the Platanaceae and Nelumbonaceae, they make up the order Pro ...

and

Myrtaceae Myrtaceae, the myrtle family, is a family of dicotyledonous plants placed within the order Myrtales. Myrtle, pōhutukawa, bay rum tree, clove, guava, acca (feijoa), allspice, and eucalyptus are some notable members of this group. All speci ...

. Several species are unique to the area and can be found on and around West Mount Barren. Species include royal hakea ('' Hakea victoria''), Qualup bell ('' Pimelea physodes''), oval-leaf adenanthos (''

Adenanthos ellipticus ''Adenanthos ellipticus'', commonly known as the oval-leaf adenanthos, is a flowering plant from the family Proteaceae that is endemism, endemic to Western Australia where it is considered to be Declared Rare Flora. Description ''Adenanthos ell ...

''), blue dampiera (''

Dampiera linearis ''Dampiera linearis'', commonly known as common dampiera or wedge-leaved dampiera, is an erect perennial herb in the family Goodeniaceae. The species, which is endemic to the south-west of Western Australia, grows to between 15 and 60 cm (6 ...

''), silver-leafed Barrens regelia (''

Regelia velutina ''Regelia velutina'', the Barrens regelia, is a species of flowering plant in the myrtle family Myrtaceae. It is endemic to the south-west of Western Australia. It is a large shrub with greyish green, velvety leaves and large clusters of brillian ...

''), Barrens clawflower (''

Calothamnus validus ''Calothamnus validus'', commonly known as Barrens clawflower, is a plant in the myrtle family, Myrtaceae and is endemic to the south-west of Western Australia. It is an upright or rounded shrub with stiff, cylindrical but not sharply pointed le ...

''), and the broad-leaved brown pea (''

Bossiaea ornata ''Bossiaea ornata'', commonly known as broad leaved brown pea, is a species of flowering plant in the family Fabaceae and is endemic to the south-west of Western Australia. It is a shrub with variably-shaped leaves, typically egg-shaped or oblong ...

'').

Fire

The area around West Mount Barren is often burnt out by

bush fire A wildfire, forest fire, bushfire, wildland fire or rural fire is an unplanned, uncontrolled and unpredictable fire in an area of combustible vegetation. Depending on the type of vegetation present, a wildfire may be more specifically identif ...

Lightning Lightning is a naturally occurring electrostatic discharge during which two electric charge, electrically charged regions, both in the atmosphere or with one on the land, ground, temporarily neutralize themselves, causing the instantaneous ...

strikes are the most usual cause of fires that often devastate large areas of the park. The last large scale fire was in December 2006 where four fires, that were started by lightning strikes, joined into one much larger blaze that burned out several thousand

hectares The hectare (; SI symbol: ha) is a non-SI metric unit of area equal to a square with 100-metre sides (1 hm2), or 10,000 m2, and is primarily used in the measurement of land. There are 100 hectares in one square kilometre. An acre is ab ...

of bushland.

References

{{reflist Mountains of Western Australia Great Southern (Western Australia)