DAVIDS_AUSTRALIA
MOUNT FIELD NATIONAL PARK: TASMANIA
This image of was taken in the Mount Field National Park in Tasmania, Australia. There are three falls in the park including Russell Falls, Lady Baron Falls and Horseshoe Falls. I now have images of these 3 falls and other parts of the park which I will be gradually posting in this photostream.
I rate this National Park as the most photogenic place I have been to in Tasmania. Next time I will be focussing on the Talls Trees Circuit and macro images of this wonderful rainforest environment.
Geology
The park lies to the west of the Derwent Graben, formed during the mid-Tertiary. Outcropping to the west of the park, and underlying it as basement rock, are strongly folded older successions of Ordovician and Siluro-Devonian sediments including the Gordon limestone and its equivalents. Jurassic dolerite is ubiquitous above about 760 metres, with Triassic and Permian sediments outcropping at lower altitudes.
The Triassic and Jurassic rocks of the park and reserves show strong Gondwanic links with those of the Transantarctic Mountains in Antarctica. The Triassic sequence of sedimentary rocks is very uniform, non-marine in origin and contains evidence of lacustrine and fluvial conditions with basic intrusive material.
The basalt dyke visible near Mt Bridges above Lake Seal is evidence of a recent intrusion in the faulted dolerite. The Jurassic dolerite (170 million years old) provides a firm link with Antarctica being of identical age.
Lady Barron Falls, Horseshoe Falls and Russell Falls are composed of horizontally bedded marine Permian siltstone benches. The vertical faces of the waterfalls are composed of the more resistant sandstone layers along vertical joint.
Aboriginal Heritage
Limited archaeological surveys in the park have shown that Aborigines used the land and waters of the park; more extensive surveys of the nearby Florentine Valley have shown Aboriginal occupation of over 30,000 years.
To date there have been no systematic archaeological surveys conducted in the park and reserves. Two Aboriginal sites have been identified inside the park boundaries, located near Lake Fenton and Lake Dobson.
The park fell within the territory of the Big River people, who occupied territory ranging from the Great Western Tiers to Mount Wellington. The Pangerninghe band located at the junction of the Derwent and Clyde Rivers near the present-day township of Hamilton, were the closest band to the park and reserves area.
European History
Early reports by white settlers noted the presence of Aboriginal people in the Russell Falls area. One such report dated 1827 noted an Aboriginal party of some 60 persons engaged in a skirmish with landowner Charles Abbott's servants, until the overseer arrived and "prudently settled all differences by the distribution of some provision amongst them" (The Tasmanian, 16 November 1827 p.2 col.1.).
From the 1830s, trappers and snarers worked the high country around Mt Field, coming in from Montos Marsh (now Ellendale). Bushrangers and escaped convicts were known to have hidden out in the country around Bushy Park in the 1840s, trapping and taking advantage of local farms such as Fenton Forest.
Prior to 1910, the only access to the high country was by pack track from Ellendale. In 1869, the eminent botanist Baron von Mueller visited Mt Field East on a week-long collecting trek, guided by the Rayner brothers, local trappers. He described the snow gum (Eucalyptus coccifera), the urn gum (E. urnigera), the cider gum (E. gunnii) and cushion plants (Donatia novaezelandie) from the meadows around Lake Fenton. The botanist Leonard Rodway also explored the area from the 1850s.
The first non-Aboriginal to encounter Russell Falls was a settler named Browning in 1856. The falls became known as Brownings Falls until about 1884 when confusion caused them to be referred to as Russell Falls, and by the turn of the century, the name was firmly established.
The original Russell Falls, named for a member of an exploration party in the Derwent Valley, was actually located on the Tyenna River, which was previously known as Russell Falls River. Frodsham surveyed the area in 1884, and the Falls Reserve was proclaimed in 1885.
Source: www.parks.tas.gov.au/index.aspx?base=3601
MOUNT FIELD NATIONAL PARK: TASMANIA
This image of was taken in the Mount Field National Park in Tasmania, Australia. There are three falls in the park including Russell Falls, Lady Baron Falls and Horseshoe Falls. I now have images of these 3 falls and other parts of the park which I will be gradually posting in this photostream.
I rate this National Park as the most photogenic place I have been to in Tasmania. Next time I will be focussing on the Talls Trees Circuit and macro images of this wonderful rainforest environment.
Geology
The park lies to the west of the Derwent Graben, formed during the mid-Tertiary. Outcropping to the west of the park, and underlying it as basement rock, are strongly folded older successions of Ordovician and Siluro-Devonian sediments including the Gordon limestone and its equivalents. Jurassic dolerite is ubiquitous above about 760 metres, with Triassic and Permian sediments outcropping at lower altitudes.
The Triassic and Jurassic rocks of the park and reserves show strong Gondwanic links with those of the Transantarctic Mountains in Antarctica. The Triassic sequence of sedimentary rocks is very uniform, non-marine in origin and contains evidence of lacustrine and fluvial conditions with basic intrusive material.
The basalt dyke visible near Mt Bridges above Lake Seal is evidence of a recent intrusion in the faulted dolerite. The Jurassic dolerite (170 million years old) provides a firm link with Antarctica being of identical age.
Lady Barron Falls, Horseshoe Falls and Russell Falls are composed of horizontally bedded marine Permian siltstone benches. The vertical faces of the waterfalls are composed of the more resistant sandstone layers along vertical joint.
Aboriginal Heritage
Limited archaeological surveys in the park have shown that Aborigines used the land and waters of the park; more extensive surveys of the nearby Florentine Valley have shown Aboriginal occupation of over 30,000 years.
To date there have been no systematic archaeological surveys conducted in the park and reserves. Two Aboriginal sites have been identified inside the park boundaries, located near Lake Fenton and Lake Dobson.
The park fell within the territory of the Big River people, who occupied territory ranging from the Great Western Tiers to Mount Wellington. The Pangerninghe band located at the junction of the Derwent and Clyde Rivers near the present-day township of Hamilton, were the closest band to the park and reserves area.
European History
Early reports by white settlers noted the presence of Aboriginal people in the Russell Falls area. One such report dated 1827 noted an Aboriginal party of some 60 persons engaged in a skirmish with landowner Charles Abbott's servants, until the overseer arrived and "prudently settled all differences by the distribution of some provision amongst them" (The Tasmanian, 16 November 1827 p.2 col.1.).
From the 1830s, trappers and snarers worked the high country around Mt Field, coming in from Montos Marsh (now Ellendale). Bushrangers and escaped convicts were known to have hidden out in the country around Bushy Park in the 1840s, trapping and taking advantage of local farms such as Fenton Forest.
Prior to 1910, the only access to the high country was by pack track from Ellendale. In 1869, the eminent botanist Baron von Mueller visited Mt Field East on a week-long collecting trek, guided by the Rayner brothers, local trappers. He described the snow gum (Eucalyptus coccifera), the urn gum (E. urnigera), the cider gum (E. gunnii) and cushion plants (Donatia novaezelandie) from the meadows around Lake Fenton. The botanist Leonard Rodway also explored the area from the 1850s.
The first non-Aboriginal to encounter Russell Falls was a settler named Browning in 1856. The falls became known as Brownings Falls until about 1884 when confusion caused them to be referred to as Russell Falls, and by the turn of the century, the name was firmly established.
The original Russell Falls, named for a member of an exploration party in the Derwent Valley, was actually located on the Tyenna River, which was previously known as Russell Falls River. Frodsham surveyed the area in 1884, and the Falls Reserve was proclaimed in 1885.
Source: www.parks.tas.gov.au/index.aspx?base=3601