OUTLIiNES OF THE GEOLOGY OF 



TASMANIA. 



By W. H. TwELVETREBS, F.Gr.S., Government Geologist. 



Tasmania, a small geological outlier of Eastern Australia, 

 offers a highly interesting field to the geological student. 

 It must, however, be conceded that its physical history in 

 pre-Cambrian and early Paleozoic times can only be dimly 

 guessed at. In later Palaeozoic times, the conditions apjaear 

 to have been insular; in the Mesozoic, there was evidently 

 a connection with the great Gondwana continent, which 

 sank beneath the Indian Ocean prior to the Tertiary period. 

 The greater part of the island has since remained above soar 

 level. 



The inaccessible nature of the highlands has greatly re^ 

 tarded geological research ; still, in spite of the physical 

 difficulties, the progress made in this direction has been con- 

 siderable. In 1841-5, Count Strzelecki published some 

 geological notes on the Island. From 1851 to 1855, Dr. J. 

 Milligan, then Secretary of the Royal Society of Tasmania, 

 reported on a large portion of the East and South Coasts. 

 In 1855, Mr. A. R. C. Selwyn reported on coal seams. In 

 1861-7, Mr. Chas. Gould, Government Geologist, prepared 

 numerous important reports and maps. Mr. S. H. Wintle 

 contributed various geological notes, 1865-1882; Rev. J. 

 C. Tenison-Woods has written several papers on Tertiary 

 geology and palagontology ; Mr. C. P. Sprent, Deputy Sur- 

 ve5'^or-General, from 1876 to 18S7, wrote on the Western 

 geology of the Island; Mr. Thos. Stephens, M.A., from 1863 

 to the present date, has constantly contributed to our know- 

 ledge of the geology of the State; in 1888, Mr. R. M. John- 

 ston's monumental work, " The Geology of Tasmania," ap- 

 peared under Government auspices, and for many years this 

 author has enriched our geological literature. The late Pro- 

 fessor G. H. F. Ulrich, in 1874-6, reported upon Mounts 

 Bischoff and Ramsay. Our Government Geologists, Messrs. 

 G. Thureau, Alex. Montgomery, M.A., and Mr. Jas. Har- 

 court Smith, B.A., have, in no mean degree, extended our 



