GEOLOGY OF MOUNT KOSCIUSKO. 367 
No 11.— CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE GEOLOGY OF 
MOUNT KOSCIUSKO AND THE INDI-MONARO 
TRACK, NEW SOUTH WALES. 
By A. E. Kitson, F.G.8., and W. THorn. 
(Read Tuesday, January 11, 1898.) 
[ Abstract. | 
Tue following remarks embody a few observations made in the 
Kosciusko region, and the accompanying notes on the microscopical 
examination of typical rocks have been kindly supplied by Mr. A. 
W. Howitt, F.G.8., &., to whom we desire to express our great 
indebtedness. 
Several writers have referred* to the prevailing rocks on Mount 
Kosciusko as granites of various kinds. As pointed out previously 
by one of us,f the rocks at Monaro Gap are grey gneissic granite. 
With local variations, the granite of the Kosciusko Plateau,fwith its 
high parallel ridges, peaks, and tors, is of much the same character, 
though aplites of various kinds occur in several parts. The main 
plateau has an elevation of about 6,800 feet above sea level, and 
the ridges and peaks are from 100 to 250 feet higher. The tors 
are separated from one another by low, grassy saddles ; and, in 
their great pillars and blocks, traversed by vertical and horizontal 
joints, furnish excellent illustrations of weathering. Echo Point, 
so named by us on account of the splendid echo there obtainable, 
is composed of a pretty, reddish aplite, and has a fine example of 
a rocking-stone. A saddle, 7,000 feet high, joining Mount 
Etheridge to Mount Kosciusko, the highest peak, divides the 
waters of the Snowy River, flowing north, from those of the 
Leatherbarrel Creek, running south into the Indi River. On the 
southern side of this saddle, under the eastern slope of Mount 
Kosciusko, and in a valley of the same name, lies a beautiful 
tarn, which we have named Lake Kosciusko. The mount itself 
consists largely of foliated granite, especially on its eastern side 
above the lake, where the rocks have high angles of dip and a 
northerly strike. Frost action is everywhere noticeable in the 
numerous massive blocks showing extensive fractures. 
* “General Geology and Physical Aspect of New South Wales and Van Diemen’s Land,” 
by Count Strzelecki. ‘* Researches in the Southern Gold-fields of New South Wales,” p. 
125, by Rey. W. B. Clarke, M.A., F.G.S. | ‘‘ Report by R. von Lendenfeld on the results of 
his recent examination of the central part of the Australian Alps,’ Sydney, Government 
Printer, 1885. ‘‘ The Glacial Period in Australasia,” by R. von Lendenfeld ; Proceedings of 
the Linnzan Society of New South Wales, vol. x, Part I. ‘‘On the recently observed 
evidences of an extensive glacier action at Mount Kosciusko Plateau,” by R. Helms; Pro. 
Linn. Soc. of N.S.W., 1893, vol. viii. ‘‘ Geological Notes upon a Trip to Mount Kosciusko, 
New South Wales,” by J. B. Jaquet, A.R.S.M., F.G.S.; Records of the Geological Survey of 
New South Wales, vol. v, Part III, 1897. ‘‘ On the evidence (so-called) of glacial action on 
Mount Kosciusko Plateau,” by Rev. J. Milne Curran ; Proceedings of the Linnean Society 
of New South Wales, 1897, Part IV. 
t ‘Geological Notes on the Gehi and Indi Rivers and Monaro Track, Mount Kosciusko, 
New South Wales,” Proceedings of the Royal Society of Victoria, vol. ix, new series. 
