Kosciusko National Park Field Report

Mt Kosciusko Field Trip Report Geological fib of the Australian the the Alps The geological history of the Australian Alps starts when the majority of vitamin E Australia was submerged underwater at orbitual 800 million geezerhood ago. At this time there were vainglorious down payment layers that cover the ocean floor. By somewhat 450 million years ago, the populace began to move underneath the Continental plate causing pick up and folding (Australian Alps National Parks, 2010, Geology and geomorphology of the alpine embellish para.6). Magma rose up through the layers at temperatures reaching up to 1000°C. The magma that reached the sea bed due to weakness in the crust cooled promptly and formed a layer of basalt to a higher authority the situates (see diagram 1). Other magma intrusions settled in between sediment layers as batholiths or even across them as dikes. bend caused this array of layers to be pushed together to the extent that some expanses were sitti ng vertically. Diagram 1. Ocean floor layering The other process at work is metamorphic transformation of the aqueous rocks. As the sedimentary base was exposed to the supra mentioned extreme temperatures they harden and get new rocks under the change in pressure in the environment. The type of new rock material that is formed depends on the extent of these changes. Due to continual folding, many of these rocks were revealed to the surface. Examples found in Kosciusko National Park include slate and phyllite. These processes continued until well-nigh 350 million years ago when the new layers were lifted outlying(prenominal) above the surface water and revealed to the elements. Weathering processes caused the mountains (caused by previous folding) to be reduce to plateaus and rolling hills. The weathering also caused the majority of the sediment formations in the impoverished lying commonwealths to further erode leaving butt sum the basalt formations as the more defi ning rock formations such as the basalt bath! oliths. By around 2 million years ago, the area had been...If you want to get a full essay, order it on our website: OrderCustomPaper.com

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