West Coast Range

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West Coast Range
Highest peak Mount Murchison ( 1275  m )
location Tasmania
West Coast Range (Tasmania)
West Coast Range
Coordinates 42 ° 5 ′  S , 145 ° 36 ′  E Coordinates: 42 ° 5 ′  S , 145 ° 36 ′  E
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The West Coast Range is a mountain range in the west of the Australian state of Tasmania . It is located west of the Franklin Gordon Wild Rivers National Park on the west coast of the island.

In this mountain range there were a large number of mines in the geologically rich zone of the Mount Read Volcanoes . To the east of the West Coast Range are other mountain ranges, such as the Engineer Range , the Raglan Range , the Eldon Range and the Sticht Range , which strike in an east-west direction. The West Coast Range, however, strikes in a north-south direction, following the series of extinct volcanoes.

The land around the mountains was used in a variety of ways. There you can find the reservoirs of the Hydro Tasmania , mines, highways and historical places. Of the settlements in this mountain range, only Gormanston is still inhabited.

geography

The geography of the area results from a number of factors, e.g. B. the southern flow direction of the glaciation in the valley of the King River and around the Tyndalls and the north-south orientation of the West Coast Range itself.

Rivers

Lakes

mountains

including mountain ranges within the West Coast Range that do not have a separately named summit:

Small elevations and other geological sights

  • Darwin Crater - presumably from a meteorite impact
  • Gooseneck Hill
  • Henty Glacial Moraine - a moraine on the Henty River
  • Marble Bluff - at the confluence of the Eldon and South Eldon rivers on the north bank of Lake Burbury
  • Teepookana Plateau
  • Thureau Hills - on the eastern slopes of Mount Owen and Mount Huxley
  • Walford Peak - on Lake Dora

vegetation

The slopes of Mount Owen, Mount Lyell and Mount Sedgwick are littered with the remains of trees that died from the fires and smoke from the smelting furnaces in the first half of the 20th century. The desolation of the forests around the Queenstown mines began in the 1890s and continued well into the 20th century.

Some Huon stone slices ( Lagarostrobos franklinii ) of considerable age can be found on the slopes of Mount Read .

Forest fires and the influence of mining and other human activities have significantly altered the vegetation zones of the West Coast Range. Only in a few places is there vegetation that has remained unchanged since European settlement.

The eastern capping of the mountains forms the western border of the Franklin Gordon Wild Rivers National Park. The forest there is in better condition. There are forest protection zones throughout the mountains.

climate

In winter, the snow line is usually 1,000 m, so most of the peaks of the West Coast Range are snow-capped. There was a long-term weather observation station on Lake Margaret, but today the Bureau of Meteorology's automatic weather station on Mount Read regularly provides data for their extreme weather website. The rainfall measured at Lake Margaret, along with that in Tully , Queensland, is the highest measured in Australia. The average for the entire West Coast Range is 2,800 - 3,000 mm / year.

The exceptional weather conditions are due to the location of the mountains on Tasmania's west coast. There the mountains are exposed to the storms of the Indian Ocean as well as the bad weather of the Antarctic , and so cold fronts and extreme weather are quite common in this area in the Roaring Forties .

There are previous weather records for the cities of Queenstown and Zeehan . Due to the changes in the population distribution, the weather data currently comes mainly from Strahan Airport and Mount Read.

history

First, the West Coast Range was explored by European explorers and convicts who escaped from the Macquarie Harbor penal colony on Sarah Island . By the end of the 19th century, most of the mountain range had been explored, but by the late 1940s, official maps showed “unexplored” or “poorly surveyed” areas in the area.

Perhaps the most prominent peaks in the mountains visible from Macquarie Harbor were named after supporters and opponents of Charles Darwin's theories . Interestingly, the higher peaks were given the names of the opponents, while the lower peaks were named after the supporters.

There were very small mining settlements in the Tyndalls, on Mount Darwin and on Mount Jukes, and probably other small, short-lived settlements elsewhere. Linda and the Linda Valley are believed to be the only other settled and named locations in a valley in the West Coast Range. Queenstown is located in the valley of the Queen River on the west flank of Mount Owen, or on the southwest flank of Mount Lyell and is therefore outside the mountains.

Mining

The Tasmanian Mining Authority regulated the mining of the mineral resources found in Tasmania. Most of them were found in the west coast area, e.g. B. barium , copper , gold , pyrite , silver and zinc .

Mines - mostly only operated for a short time - existed on the upper slopes of Mount Darwin and Mount Jukes. Longer-standing mines were found on the middle slopes of Mount Lyell (on the north, west and south sides) and on the middle and upper slopes of Mount Read. Over time, almost all the slopes of the mountains mentioned were searched for minerals.

The government has been ordering environmental protection measures over the past few decades that have limited the destruction caused by mining as known from Mount Lyell. A good example of the operation of a mine in an ecologically sensitive area is the Henty Gold Mine at the northern end of the mountains.

Dams

The west coast of Tasmania has always been an attractive location for dams to generate electricity from hydropower. For this purpose, the King River was already measured during the First World War .

In the 1950s and early 1960s, the HEC carried out its first measurements. In the upper part of the Pieman River System , parts of the West Coast Range were built with dams, and the HEC's final projects were the Henty River System and the King River System .

Pieman River System

The Pieman River System includes the damming of rivers that originate in the West Coast Range. This project followed the Gordon River system . A Franklin River system was supposed to follow, but the King River and Henty River dammed actually followed.

Construction began in 1974 and was completed in 1987. It includes the dams on the Murchison River and the Macintosh River, as well as on the Pieman River. For the workers on this project, the Tullah settlement was built , which also became the administrative center of the HEC.

The Lake Mackintosh with its power plant located north of Tullah, while the Lake Murchison is south. A third dam, the Bastyan dam , was built north of Rosebery and the Reece dam is located far to the west by the Corinna settlement .

King River System

The Crotty Dam is an 82 m high dam wall in the course of the King River between Mount Huxley and Mount Jukes. The Darwin Dam is a saddle dam at the foot of Mount Darwin. Both dams together dam the 54 km² large Lake Burbury .

traffic

At first, the west coast was only accessible on foot or by sea. Railways were built into this area much earlier than roads. The road to Hobart ( Lyell Highway ) was not built until the 1930s and that to the north coast ( Murchison Highway ) only in the 1960s.

Railways

Railways from Macquarie Harbor to the foot of the mountains were built to develop the Mount Lyell and North Mount Lyell mines. None of them crossed the West Coast Range.

Similar routes connected with the Emu Bay Railway - e.g. B. the North East Dundas Tramway to the foot of the West Coast Range where the mines were.

Streets

The Lyell Highway runs through the West Coast Range and the Linda Valley. It was only created in the 1930s.

The road from Crotty to Queenstown - or actually to Lynchford - by the HEC as Mount Jukes Road , part of the King River System, built in the 1980s - runs high over the gorge of the King River on the north flank of Mount Jukes .

The Anthony Road (B28) provided by Hydro Tasmania as part of the Anthony system was built, cuts through the northern part of the mountain and allows access to the glacial lakes in Tyndall, Lake Westwood, Lake Selina and Lake Julia.

Airfields

Queenstown Airfield - in operation west of the city in the 1960s and 1970s - was not a regular airfield, but it was closest to the West Coast Range. Strahan Airfield is the closest official airfield.

In several places in the mountains there were helicopter landing pads that were used by the mine operators. However, there is no longer any record of this.

Attractions

Railways

  • Comstock Tram around the slopes of Mount Lyell - not to be confused with the route of the same name in Zeehan
  • Lake Margaret Tram on the west side of Mount Sedgwick
  • North Mount Lyell Railway in the Linda Valley, along the valley of the King River,

by Crotty and Darwin to Pillinger at the Kelly Basin.

Settlements and ghost towns

  • Crotty (ghost town) on the eastern slopes of Mount Jukes
  • Darwin (ghost town) on the eastern slopes of Mount Darwin
  • Gormanston on the north slopes of Mount Owen
  • Lake Margaret (ghost town)
  • Linda between Mount Owen and Mount Lyell
  • Rosebery
  • Tullah on Lake Rosebery
  • Williamsford

Mines

  • Henty gold mine
  • Mount Jukes Mines on the upper slopes of the mountain - including the 'Lake Jukes Mine'

Dams and power plants

  • Anthony Power Station
  • Bastyan Power Station
  • Crotty Dam
  • Darwin dam
  • John Butters Power Station
  • Lake Margaret Power Station

Main streets

  • Lyell Highway in the Linda Valley between Mount Owen and Mount Lyell
  • Henty River Road from Henty Glacial Moraine to Lake Murchison Dam (Anthony Power Station) and to Tullah

Hiking trails

There are several hiking trails throughout the mountains - some of them still usable today, others overgrown.
C. Binks: Explorers of Western Tasmania , has an appendix entitled 'The exploration tracks 1880–1910' which shows ancient hiking trails.
Many paths were laid out by Thomas Bather Moore . He named many landmarks such as Mount Strahan, the Thureau Hills and the Tofft River.

Geological maps

Geological maps of Tasmania: Mount Read Volcanics Project P. Komyshan ... et al. Hobart: Geological Survey of Tasmania, Division of Mines and Mineral Resources, Mount Read Volcanics Project, 1986–1993 - 13 maps: col. ; 92 × 96 cm. or smaller.

  • Map 1. Geology of the Mt. Charter-Hellyer area
  • Map 2. Geology of Rosebery-Mt. Block area
  • Map 3. Geology of the Henty River-Mt. Read area
  • Map 4. Geology of the Mt. Murchison area
  • Map 5. Geology of the Tyndall Range area
  • Map 6. Geological compilation map of the Mount Read volcanics & associated rocks, Hellyer to south Darwin Peak
  • Map 7. Geology of the Back Peak-Cradle Mountain Link Road area (not West Coast Range area)
  • Map 8. Geology of the Mt. Cattley-Mt. Tor area (not West Coast Range area)
  • Map 9. Geology of the Winterbrook-Moina area (not West Coast Range area)
  • Map 10. Geology of the Elliott Bay-Mt. Osmund area (not West Coast Range area)
  • Map 11. Geology of the Wanderer River-Moores Valley area (not West Coast Range area)
  • Map 12. Geology of the D'Aguilar Range area (not West Coast Range area)
  • Map 13. Geology of the Mt. Jukes-Mt. Darwin area.

Web links

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  • Banks, MR and Kirkpatrick, JB Editors: Landscape and Man, the interaction between man and environment in Western Tasmania . Royal Society of Tasmania, Tasmania, 1977.
  • Binks, CJ: Explorers of Western Tasmania . Mary Fisher Bookshop, Launceston 1980, ISBN 0-908291-16-7 .
  • Blainey, Geoffrey: The Peaks of Lyell , 6th ed. Edition, St. David's Park Publishing, Hobart 2000, ISBN 0-7246-2265-9 .
  • Crawford, Patsy: King: Story of a River . Montpelier Press, 2000, ISBN 1-876597-02-X .
  • Rae, Lou: The Abt Railway and Railways of the Lyell region . Lou Rae, Sandy Bay 2001, ISBN 0-9592098-7-5 .
  • Stoddart, D. Michael (Ed.): Walk to the West . The Royal Society of Tasmania, Hobart 1993, ISBN 0-9598679-9-6 .
  • Stringer, I .: The West Coast Range: a photographic odyssey . I. Stringer, J. Perkins, Queenstown, Tas. 2001.
  • Whitham, Charles: Western Tasmania - A land of riches and beauty , Reprint 2003. Edition, Municipality of Queenstown, Queenstown 2003.
Edition 2003 - Queenstown: Municipality of Queenstown.
1949 edition - Hobart: Davies Brothers. OCLC 48825404
1924 edition - Queenstown: Mount Lyell Tourist Association. OCLC 35070001
  • Whitham, Lindsay: Railways, Mines, Pubs and People and other historical research . Tasmanian Historical Research Association, Sandy Bay 2002, ISBN 0-909479-21-6 .
  • Wilkinson, Bill: The Abels: Tasmania's Mountains over 1100m High . Regal Publications, Launceston 1994, ISBN 0949457671 .

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Sean J. Fitzsimons & Eric A. Colhoun: Pleistocene glaciation of the King Valley, Western Tasmania, Australia . Quaternary Research. Volume 36, 2nd edition (September 1991). Pp. 135-156
  2. ↑ Eric A. Colhoun: Glaciations of the West Coast Range, Tasmania . Quaternary Research Volume 24, 1st Edition (July 1985). Pp. 39-59. Summary: Geomorphic, stratigraphic, palynologic and 14C evidence indicates that the West Coast Range, Tasmania, was glaciated at least three times during the late Cenozoic. The last or Margaret Glaciation commenced after 30,000 yr BP, culminated about 19,000 yr BP, and ended by 10,000 yr BP During this period a small ice cap, approx. 250 m thick, and cirque and valley glaciers covered 108 km².
  3. ↑ The photos by Russ Ashton are a good example of the places they were investigating at the time, some of them in close proximity to the West Coast Range
  4. ^ Strahan Airport . West Coast Council ( Memento of the original from December 27, 2009 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.westcoast.tas.gov.au