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The Sugarloaf
The Sugarloaf, named for its resemblance to a mass of hard refined sugar, is the best known feature in the Hallett Cove Conservation Park.The 'red beds' are sand and clay that contain dropstones. The regular layering indicates that the clay was deposited in calm water.
White sand forms the main portion of the Sugarloaf.
At the base of the Sugarloaf is a layer of clay and boulders that fell from ice floating across the lake. The Sugarloaf is capped by a thin 'young' layer of brown alluvial clay which was deposited by a river between one to two million years ago.
Its shape is due to erosion by rain and wind over the last few thousand years. However the layes tell a much longer story:
Around 280 million years ago southern Australia (inlcuding Hallett Cove) was covered by an ice cap. It melted about 270 million years ago. The distince red and white layers of sediment were deposited on the bottom of an ancient glacial meltwater lake.
The Sugarloaf
The Sugarloaf, named for its resemblance to a mass of hard refined sugar, is the best known feature in the Hallett Cove Conservation Park.The 'red beds' are sand and clay that contain dropstones. The regular layering indicates that the clay was deposited in calm water.
White sand forms the main portion of the Sugarloaf.
At the base of the Sugarloaf is a layer of clay and boulders that fell from ice floating across the lake. The Sugarloaf is capped by a thin 'young' layer of brown alluvial clay which was deposited by a river between one to two million years ago.
Its shape is due to erosion by rain and wind over the last few thousand years. However the layes tell a much longer story:
Around 280 million years ago southern Australia (inlcuding Hallett Cove) was covered by an ice cap. It melted about 270 million years ago. The distince red and white layers of sediment were deposited on the bottom of an ancient glacial meltwater lake.