Has there ever been any volcano activity in Australia? During this
century?
Brian Slattery
Dear Brian,
There has not been any eruptions in Australia in this century. The most
recent eruption in Australia was at Mt. Gambier, a shield volcano in the
Newer Volcanic Province, South Australia, about 2,900 years ago.
There are numerous interesting volcanic provinces n Australia. There are
flood basalts of Cambrian age (about 650 million years old) northeast of
Halls Crossing in northern Australia. Volcanism commenced about 70
million years ago at volcanic centers in southeast Queensland and
northeast South Wales. Compositions range from basalt to rhyolite and
includes shields, plugs, and domes. In north Queensland there are some
very long basaltic lava flows. For example, at Undara a flow is 100
miles (160 km) long. You might have a look at Johnson and others (1989).
Steve Mattox, University of North Dakota
Sources of Information:
Johnson, R.W., 1976, Volcanism in Australia: Elsevier, New York, 405 p.
Johnson, R.W., Knutson, J., and Taylor, S.R., 1989, Intraplate volcanism
in eastern Australia and New Zealand: Cambridge University Press,
Cambridge, England, 408 p.
Simkin, T., and Siebert, L., 1994, Volcanoes of the world: Geoscience
Press, Tucson, Arizona, 349 p.
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