Mount Warrnambool is a single large scoria cone

volcano A volcano is a rupture in the Crust (geology), crust of a Planet#Planetary-mass objects, planetary-mass object, such as Earth, that allows hot lava, volcanic ash, and volcanic gas, gases to escape from a magma chamber below the surface. On Ear ...

that is high. It is southwest of

Terang, Victoria Terang is a town in the Western District of Victoria, Australia. The town is in the Shire of Corangamite and on the Princes Highway south west of the state's capital, Melbourne. At the , Terang had a population of 1,824. At the 2001 census, ...

, Australia. It is visible from the Princes Highway on the way to

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 (A ...

Volcano

Mount Warrnambool is an outstanding example of complex volcanic activity featuring lava flows, a maar eruption and Strombolian-type activity. The last eruption of Mount Warrnambool was over 5,000 years ago.

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 ...

and

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 ...

form layers in the area. The tuff forms a partial ring around the east and north sides of the volcano. The ring of tuff could be on other sides of the volcano too, except that it is covered in lava. The tuff has been quarried on the north side of the Princes Highway. The tuff here is hardened, but was formed due to

volcanic ash Volcanic ash consists of fragments of rock, mineral crystals, and volcanic glass, created during volcanic eruptions and measuring less than 2 mm (0.079 inches) in diameter. The term volcanic ash is also often loosely used to refer ...

falling from the air. Structures visible in the quarry include a base surge and

volcanic bomb A volcanic bomb or lava bomb is a mass of partially molten rock (tephra) larger than 64 mm (2.5 inches) in diameter, formed when a volcano ejects viscous fragments of lava during an eruption. Because volcanic bombs cool after they l ...

sag. The

basalt Basalt (; ) is an 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 surface of a rocky planet or moon. More than 90 ...

below the tuff has been dated at 2.2 Ma. A basalt layer on top of the tuff was dated at 0.57 Ma. There is a small parcel of

public land In all modern states, a portion of land is held by central or local governments. This is called public land, state land, or Crown land (Australia, and Canada). The system of tenure of public land, and the terminology used, varies between countrie ...

at the summit. An access track to a

fire tower A fire lookout tower, fire tower or lookout tower, provides housing and protection for a person known as a " fire lookout" whose duty it is to search for wildfires in the wilderness. It is a small building, usually on the summit of a mountain or ...

on the summit is not open to public.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Warrnambool, Mount Cinder cones Mountains of Victoria (Australia) Volcanoes of Victoria (Australia) Inactive volcanoes

Volcano

See also

References