Mount Napier

Mountain in Victoria, Australia

Mount Napier
(Tapoc)

Location in Victoria

GeologyVolcanic arc/beltNewer Volcanics Province

Mount Napier in Victoria, Australia, is one of the youngest volcanoes in Australia.^[2] It erupted about 32,000 years ago.^[3] It was named by Major Thomas Mitchell after the three Napier brothers, who he had served alongside during the Peninsular War. Mitchell named it in August 1836, during his third expedition across south-eastern Australia. The local Aboriginal name for the mount is Tapoc.^[4] Mount Napier State Park is located 270 kilometres west of Melbourne and 17 km south of Hamilton.

Location and features

Mount Napier or Tapoc in the local Aboriginal language, has a composite lava shield with a superimposed scoria cone. The cone rises 150 metres (490 ft) above the surrounding plains to an elevation of 440 metres (1,440 ft), making it the highest point on the Western District Plains of Victoria. Mount Napier is part of the Newer Volcanics Province, which is the youngest volcanic region in Australia. The Newer Volcanics Province covers an area of 15,000 square kilometres (6,000 sq mi) and contains over 400 vents.

The Mount Napier Lava Flow followed the Harman Valley west from the volcano, and then south towards nearby Mount Eccles which is 25 km south-west of Mount Napier. Lava blisters or tumuli occur along the flow - these are house-sized mounds of basalt rocks. The blisters are the best developed in Australia and uncommon in the rest of the world. They are formed by the pressure of liquid lava pushing up against the crust.^[5] Several caves and lava tubes can also be found at Byaduk.

The native vegetation of Mount Napier State Park, on the western side of the mountain, varies from grassy woodland to tall open forest dominated by Manna Gum Eucalyptus viminalis, Blackwood Acacia melanoxylon, Austral Bracken Pteridium esculentum and Common Tussock Grass Poa labillardieri.^[6]^[2] This hosts a variety of native fauna, including birds, marsupials and mammals, including bats (Bird 1997^[6]).

Gallery

Scoria from Mount Napier
Close view of the volcanic rim
Harmans Valley to Mount Napier
Tumuli - lava blisters

References

^ "Mount Napier". Gazetteer of Australia online. Geoscience Australia, Australian Government.
^ ^a ^b "Mount Napier State Park". Parks Victoria. Retrieved 22 February 2022.
^ Grimes, Ken (2013). "The Ages of Our Volcanoes" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 8 August 2014. Retrieved 5 August 2014.
^ Frankel, David; Major, Janine (2014). Kulin and Kurnai : Victorian Aboriginal life and customs. p. 138. ISBN 978-1326124779.
^ Grimes, Ken (2003). "The Tumuli" (PDF). Hamilton Field Naturalist Club. Retrieved 23 May 2017.
^ ^a ^b Bird, Rod. "Mammals and Birds of the Mount Napier State Park" (PDF). Retrieved 19 September 2012.

External links

Mt Napier State Park
Byaduk Caves

Mountains in Victoria, Australia

Grampians

William (1,167 m or 3,829 ft)
Difficult
Wilson
Zero (364 m or 1,194 ft)

Victorian Alps

Bogong High Plains	Nelse West (1,893 m or 6,211 ft) Nelse North (1,885 m or 6,184 ft) Fainter South (1,883 m or 6,178 ft) Hotham (1,862 m or 6,109 ft) McKay (1,849 m or 6,066 ft) Cope (1,837 m or 6,027 ft) Spion Kopje (1,837 m or 6,027 ft) Jim (1,818 m or 5,965 ft)
Cathedral Range	Lake (1,482 m or 4,862 ft) The Green Hill (1,241 m or 4,072 ft) Sugarloaf (904 m or 2,966 ft) The Cathedral (801 m or 2,628 ft) South Jawbone Peak (761 m or 2,497 ft)
Cobberas Range	Cobberas No. 1 (1,810 m or 5,938 ft) Cobberas No. 2 Moscow Peak Middle Peak Cleft Peak
Cobbler Plateau	Speculation (1,648 m or 5,407 ft) Cobbler (1,628 m or 5,341 ft) Koonika (1,545 m or 5,069 ft) Despair (1,460 m or 4,790 ft)
Other	Bogong (1,986 m or 6,516 ft) Feathertop (1,922 m or 6,306 ft) Loch (1,865 m or 6,119 ft) Buller (1,805 m or 5,922 ft) Wills (1,755 m or 5,758 ft) Gibbo (1,750 m or 5,741 ft) Stirling (1,749 m or 5,738 ft) Howitt (1,742 m or 5,715 ft) The Horn (1,723 m or 5,653 ft) Buffalo (1,723 m or 5,653 ft) Wellington (1,634 m or 5,361 ft) Buggery (Alpine) (1,598 m or 5,243 ft) Baw Baw (1,567 m or 5,141 ft) Saint Phillack (1,567 m or 5,141 ft) Torbreck (1,516 m or 4,974 ft) St Gwinear (1,509 m or 4,951 ft) Mueller (1,460 m or 4,790 ft) Selma (1,456 m or 4,777 ft) Useful (1,435 m or 4,708 ft) Tambo (1,430 m or 4,692 ft) Selwyn (1,411 m or 4,629 ft) Terrible (1,325 m or 4,347 ft) Donna Buang (1,250 m or 4,101 ft) Buggery (Wangaratta) (1,153 m or 3,783 ft) Bulla Bulla (906 m or 2,972 ft) Dom Dom (740 m or 2,428 ft) Brumby Point Pine

Other
mountain ranges

Central Highlands	Macedon (1,001 m or 3,284 ft)
Dandenong Ranges	Dandenong (633 m or 2,077 ft)
Pyrenees Ranges	Avoca (747 m or 2,451 ft) Warrenmang (537 m or 1,762 ft)
Strzelecki Ranges	Tassie (740 m or 2,428 ft)
Other	Matlock (1,377 m or 4,518 ft) Ritchie (1,259 m or 4,131 ft) Toorongo (1,247 m or 4,091 ft) Horsfall (1,130 m or 3,707 ft) Kaye (998 m or 3,274 ft) Elizabeth (941 m or 3,087 ft) Ghiran (924 m or 3,031 ft) Disappointment (794 m or 2,605 ft) Riddell (781 m or 2,562 ft) Beenak (745 m or 2,444 ft) Alexander (744 m or 2,441 ft) Buninyong (719 m or 2,359 ft) Hanging Rock / Diogenes (718 m or 2,356 ft) Warrenheip (714 m or 2,343 ft) Franklin (648 m or 2,126 ft) Beckworth (634 m or 2,080 ft) Corhanwarrabul (628 m or 2,060 ft) Tarrengower (556 m or 1,824 ft) Warrenmang (526 m or 1,726 ft) Teneriffe (444 m or 1,457 ft) Napier (440 m or 1,444 ft) Briggs Bluff (420 m or 1,378 ft) Arapiles (369 m or 1,211 ft) You Yangs (352 m or 1,155 ft) Leura (313 m or 1,027 ft) Noorat (310 m or 1,017 ft) Elephant (240 m or 787 ft) Warrnambool (216 m or 709 ft) Budj Bim (178 m or 584 ft) Wycheproof (148 m or 486 ft) Cooper (137 m or 449 ft) Fraser Hopeless Typo Jack Hills