Mount Kaputar, a

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 area, and is usually highe ...

with an elevation of above sea level, is located near

Narrabri Narrabri ( ) is a locality and seat of Narrabri Shire local government area in the North West Slopes, New South Wales, Australia on the Namoi River, northwest of Sydney. It sits on the junction of the Kamilaroi Highway and the Newell Highw ...

in northern

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

. It is part of the Nandewar Range and has been preserved within the

Mount Kaputar National Park The Mount Kaputar National Park is a national park located in New South Wales, Australia, surrounding the proximities of Mount Kaputar, a volcano active between 17 and 21 million years ago. It is located east of Narrabri and northwest of ...

. The mountain is a prominent landmark for travellers on the

Newell Highway Newell Highway is a national highway in New South Wales (NSW), Australia. It provides the major road link between southeastern Queensland and Victoria via central NSW and as such carries large amounts of freight. At in length, the Newell is th ...

as it rises abruptly from the plains. In the cold of winter the mountain may receive a light dusting of

snow Snow comprises individual ice crystals that grow while suspended in the atmosphere—usually within clouds—and then fall, accumulating on the ground where they undergo further changes. It consists of frozen crystalline water throughout ...

.Snow on Mount Kaputar, Oz Forecast
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Access

The summit is accessible from Narrabri via a long, winding and narrow road that is partly sealed. Neighboring Mount Dowe, with an elevation of above sea level, contains various telecommunications broadcasting equipment and the large antenna is visible from the

Kamilaroi Highway Kamilaroi Highway is a state highway located in the north-western region of New South Wales, Australia, and links via and to . The highway is named after the Kamilaroi Indigenous Australian people who live in the area. Route The highway be ...

heading south towards

Gunnedah Gunnedah is a town in north-eastern New South Wales, Australia and is the seat of the Gunnedah Shire local government area. In the the town recorded a population of 9,726. Gunnedah is situated within the Liverpool Plains, a fertile agricultu ...

. There is a lookout at the top of the peak called Mount Kaputar Lookout. Nearby is the Governor Lookout and Eckfords Lookout as well as Dawson Spring with cabins, picnic tables and camping facilities. Mount kaputar summit view 2008

Geology

Mount Kaputar is the remnants of an

extinct 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 a ...

that was active about 18 million years ago.Mount Kapural National Park park guide. rochureNew South Wales National Parks and Wildlife Service. June 1994. Mount Lindesay was probably the centre of the volcano. The predominant vegetation on the mountain is dry

sclerophyll Sclerophyll is a type of vegetation that is adapted to long periods of dryness and heat. The plants feature hard leaves, short internodes (the distance between leaves along the stem) and leaf orientation which is parallel or oblique to direct ...

forest.

Flora

The main vegetation types are dry rainforests, dry eucalypt forests and

heathland A heath () is a shrubland habitat found mainly on free-draining infertile, acidic soils and characterised by open, low-growing woody vegetation. Moorland is generally related to high-ground heaths with—especially in Great Britain—a coole ...

s. A

sub-alpine Montane ecosystems are found on the slopes of mountains. The alpine climate in these regions strongly affects the ecosystem because temperatures fall as elevation increases, causing the ecosystem to stratify. This stratification is a crucial f ...

zone known as the Kaputar Plateau forms an elevated area above sea level. Here the main vegetation type is open eucalypt forest dominated by

snow gum ''Eucalyptus pauciflora'', commonly known as snow gum, cabbage gum or white sally, is a species of tree or mallee that is native to eastern Australia. It has smooth bark, lance-shaped to elliptical leaves, flower buds in clusters of between sev ...

, ribbon gum and mountain gum. Below this down to above sea level the most common trees include the silver-top stringybark and rough-barked mountain gum. Heath occurs in scattered patches where exposure to high winds and shallow soils inhibits the growth of larger trees.

Fauna

The mountain is home to a giant, fluorescent pink slug, which can grow up to in length. This pink species is found only on this single mountaintop. The peak is an isolated habitat island on which

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found else ...

invertebrates and plant species have existed for millions of years. According to a park ranger there are three species of cannibal snails on the mountain.

References

External links