Mount Noorat is a

dormant volcano A volcano is commonly defined as a vent or fissure 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 ...

, situated on Glenormiston Road north of the township of

Noorat Noorat is a small township in southwestern Victoria, Australia. Noorat is located approximately 211 km west of Melbourne. The township is located at the base of Mount Noorat, a dormant volcano, which is considered to have Australia's larges ...

, and approximately six kilometres north of

Terang Terang is a town in the Shire of Corangamite, Victoria, Australia. The town is located on the Princes Highway and is south west of the state's capital, Melbourne. At the , Terang had a population of 2,254. History The semi-nomadic Kirrae W ...

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Queen Victoria (1819–1901), Queen of the United Kingdom and Empress of India * Victoria (state), a state of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, a provincial capital * Victoria, Seychelles, the capi ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

. The last eruption is estimated to have occurred between 5,000 and 20,000 years ago. Mount Noorat crater

Mount Noorat is a major volcano of the

Newer Volcanics Province The Newer Volcanics Province is a geological area which is a volcanic field, formed by the East Australia hotspot across south-eastern Australia. It covers an area of , with over 400 small shield volcanoes and volcanic vents. The area contains ...

of Victoria, with a peak height of 310 metres above sea level and a crater between 160 and 200 metres. It is characterised by multiple vents, a complex

topography Topography is the study of the forms and features of land surfaces. The topography of an area may refer to the landforms and features themselves, or a description or depiction in maps. Topography is a field of geoscience and planetary sci ...

, and the deepest

scoria Scoria or cinder is a pyroclastic, highly vesicular, dark-colored volcanic rock formed by ejection from a volcano as a molten blob and cooled in the air to form discrete grains called clasts.Neuendorf, K.K.E., J.P. Mehl, Jr., and J.A. Jackso ...

enclosed crater in Victoria. The mount illustrates a transition from

maar A maar is a broad, low-relief volcanic crater caused by a phreatomagmatic eruption (an explosion which occurs when groundwater comes into contact with hot lava or magma). A maar characteristically fills with water to form a relatively shallow ...

eruption to

scoria cone A cinder cone or scoria cone is a steep, conical landform of loose pyroclastic fragments, such as volcanic ash, clinkers, or scoria that has been built around a volcanic vent. The pyroclastic fragments are formed by explosive eruptions or l ...

development, and includes

megacryst In geology, a megacryst is a crystal or grain that is considerably larger than the encircling Matrix (geology), matrix. They are found in igneous rock, igneous and metamorphic rocks. Megacrysts can be further classified based on the nature of their ...

and

xenolith A xenolith ("foreign rock") is a rock (geology), rock fragment (Country rock (geology), country rock) that becomes enveloped in a larger rock during the latter's development and solidification. In geology, the term ''xenolith'' is almost exclusi ...

Legacy

The Mount was historically a traditional meeting and trading place for the district's Indigenous peoples, the Kirrae Wuurong, who exchanged stones, spears, skins and other material. Its scoria was used on the district's early roads.

References

External links

Official Website of the 12 Apostles Region of Australia

Terang and district Tourism Website
Inactive volcanoes Volcanoes of Victoria (state) Tourist attractions in Victoria (state) Mountains of Victoria (state) Mountains of Barwon South West (region) {{VictoriaAU-geo-stub

Legacy

See also

References

External links