Mount Gambier (volcano)

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Mount Gambier
Ereng Balam
File:Mount Gambier Blue Lake.jpg
Blue Lake maar of Mount Gambier
Highest point
Coordinates Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
Geography
Mount Gambier is located in South Australia
Mount Gambier
Mount Gambier

Mount Gambier (also known as Ereng Balam,meaning eagle hawk)[1] is a maar complex in South Australia associated with the Newer Volcanics Province. It contains four lake-filled maars called Blue Lake, Valley Lake, Leg of Mutton Lake, and Brownes Lake.[2] It is one of Australia's youngest volcanoes, but estimates of the age have ranged from over 28,000 to less than 4,300.[3] The most recent estimate, based on radiocarbon dating of plant fibers in the main crater (Blue Lake) suggests an eruption a little before 6000 years ago.[3][4]

Mount Gambier is thought to have formed by a mantle plume centre called the East Australia hotspot which may currently lie offshore.[5]

The mountain was sighted by Lieutenant James Grant on 3 December 1800 from the survey brig HMS Lady Nelson and named for Lord James Gambier, Admiral of the Fleet.[6]

This area is part of the UNESCO-endorsed Kanawinka Geopark.

Of the original four lakes found within the maars, only two remain. The Leg of Mutton Lake (named for the outline of its shoreline) became permanently dry in the 1960s. Brownes Lake suffered a similar fate in the late 1980s. Both these lakes were quite shallow; their demise is attributed to the lowering of the water table as a result of many years of land drainage to secure farmland.

The city of Mount Gambier partially surrounds the maar complex.

See also

References

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  2. Sheard, M.J. (1978) "Geological History of the Mount Gambier Volcanic Complex, Southeast South Australia". Transactions of the Royal Society of South Australia 102(5): 125–139, Aug. 1978
  3. 3.0 3.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  4. Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  5. Mt Gambier Volcano, Australia – John Search
  6. Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.


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