A Geological Wonder in Tasmania

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#tasmania #geology #geosciences
In this video, we take you deep into the geological story of Cape Hauy, located on the southeast coast of Tasmania, Australia. This remote headland, known for its sheer dolerite sea cliffs and isolated sea stacks, offers one of the most dramatic and scientifically rich landscapes in the Southern Hemisphere. But Cape Hauy is not just a visual spectacle—it’s a geological archive, recording hundreds of millions of years of Earth’s history, from ancient glacial seas to catastrophic magmatic events tied to the breakup of the supercontinent Gondwana. This documentary-style exploration reveals how fire, ice, sedimentation, and erosion have all shaped this incredible place.

We begin by diving into the Permian Period, nearly 300 million years ago, when the region now known as Tasmania was submerged beneath a glacial sea. During this time, the Parmeener Supergroup—a thick sequence of glaciomarine mudstones, siltstones, and sandstones—was deposited across vast areas of the Gondwanan margin. These sedimentary layers would form the foundation into which later magmatic intrusions would force their way. As climate conditions changed, Tasmania transitioned into the Triassic Period, when rivers, lakes, and swamps laid down further layers of sandstone and shale, preserving fossils of ancient plants and animals. This stable, stratified crust set the stage for one of the most important geological episodes in Tasmania’s history.

Around 183 million years ago, during the Jurassic Period, a massive event shook the region: the intrusion of magma associated with the Karoo–Ferrar Large Igneous Province, one of the largest magmatic events in Earth’s history. As Australia began rifting away from Antarctica and Zealandia, vast volumes of molten rock surged upward from the mantle and spread laterally through the crust. In Tasmania, this resulted in the formation of enormous dolerite sills—sheet-like intrusions that forced their way between the layers of the Parmeener Supergroup. These sills were often hundreds of meters thick and spread across thousands of square kilometers. In places, feeder dikes punched vertically through the sedimentary layers, channeling magma into horizontal chambers.

The intrusion of dolerite did not occur passively. The intense heat and pressure of the magma baked and deformed the surrounding sedimentary rocks. In some areas, the weight of the intrusion caused the overlying strata to buckle upward, creating gentle domes and anticlines. In others, the sills stacked in layered formations, building the foundation of what would eventually become Tasmania’s famous dolerite-capped mountains and cliffs. Nowhere is this more spectacular than at Cape Hauy, where the dolerite cooled slowly enough to form columnar jointing—a pattern of vertical fractures that breaks the rock into towering, hexagonal columns. These formations are now visible due to tens of millions of years of erosion and exhumation that have stripped away the overlying sedimentary rocks.

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00:00-00:55 - Introduction to Cape Huay
00:56-02:23 - Cape Huay During The Permian Period
02:24-03:43 - Cape Huay During The Triassic Period
03:44- 05:16 - Cape Huay During The Jurassic Period - Massive Amounts of Magma Gets Injected Into Tasmania
05:17-06:51 - Cape Huay Forms
06:52-07:56 - After the Jurassic: Tectonic Fragmentation
07:57-08:31 - The Late Cretaceous
08:32-09:16 - Cape Huay Emerges: The Cenozoic Era
09:17-09:55 - Renewed Volcanism Begins
09:56-10:30 - The Columnar Dolerite Is Exposed To The Surface
10:31-13:06 - The Final Touches During The Quaternary Period
13:07-14:24 - Cape Huay Today
14:25-15:14 - Cape Huay's Geological Journey Summarized
15:15-16:10 Conclusion & Patreon / Youtube Member Thank You!