36 NOTES ON >IT. ANNK AND THE WELD lllVEIl VALLEY, 



main pinnacles of Cradle Mountain and Barn BluflF stand- 

 out 1,000 feet above the surrounding cols. These are glacial 

 horns in the making, but the process is far from complete, 

 and it can hardly be called a type of fully mature glacial 

 topography. Doubtless the extremely hard diabase cap of 

 most of our mountains has hindered the development of the^' 

 glacial cycle as it is hindering the development of the river 

 cycle, and if we had had mountains of soft sedimentary 

 rocks we would probably have had peaks to rival the Matter- 

 horn, in outline if not in altitude. It is the Riss glaciation 

 that has been responsible for the development of this topo- 

 graphy. The Mindel ice sheet had more of a rounding 

 effect and the Warm was of too short a duration to have a 

 great effect, although it has accentuated the degree of 

 erosion at the top of the Riss cirques and in many places 

 has completed the formation of the comb ridge. 



5. ECONOMIC POSSIBILITIES OF THE AREA. 

 (a) Mining. 



It is difficult at present to see a great future before the 

 district. As settlement extends the eastern part will be 

 absorbed into the cultivated portion of Tasmania, but, short 

 of the discovery cf mineral wealth, it is hard to see what usi- 

 can be made of the bulk of the area. For many years there 

 have been rumours of the existence of gold under Mt. Anne, 

 and the area has been constantly prospected, chiefly by 

 parties from the Hucn, but without appreciable results. The 

 ciuartzitcs of the area are potential mineral-bearing rocks, 

 but beyond this there appears little justification for hopes of 

 discovery of a great mineral field here. The tiny patch of 

 serpentine on the* Weld is the only trace of an occurrence in 

 the district of an igneo as rock with which minerals are 

 usually associated. The veins of quartz that traverse this 

 bed of quartzite of Cambro-Ordovician age lying between Mt 

 King William and La Percuse do net appear to be an indi- 

 cation of the presence of minerals. 



The locality has been well prospected. The western 

 slopes of Mt. Anne would be easy to examine, and it is 

 reasonable to suppose that they have been well searched. A 

 lode there would be difficult to miss if a prospector investi- 

 gated the faces of the main spurs. In the W( Id Valley, on 

 the other hand, the country is most densely covered with 

 jungle and cannot have been at all thoroughly investigated, 

 while the presence of a little .serpentine is a hopeful sign. 

 If mineral wealth exists here the eastern slopes of Mt. Anne. 



