© Copyright, 2000 by R.A.Kanen, All Rights Reserved
Melbourne and its suburbs extend 60km in the east and southeast and some 40 km in the west and north. Port Phillip Bay occupies most of the south with peninsulas extending down each side. In the east are the Dandenongs and Yarra Ranges while the west is mostly open with hilly areas, gorges and gullies.
There are several abandoned quarries in Melbourne. Together, with the numerous road cuttings, creek and river areas, there exists a large number of opportunities to collect mineral and rock specimens. The old Richmond basalt quarry was a source of many zeolite specimens for the Melbourne Museum. When the Yarra River was diverted, the quarry became flooded and remains that way today. It is currently used by the Ports Authority and other groups as a launching and maintenance area for the Yarra River.
Warrandyte, along the Yarra River was Victoria’s first declared goldfield. A large number of miners recovered a small quantity of gold mostly from the Fourth Hill area, now a mining heritage bushland area. The old diggings are still visible, some of the shafts have been covered, but it is still possible to enter one of the tunnels. The rocks here are mostly quartzites, siltstones and mudstones. There is much quartz veining through them. Beyond Warrandyte lies Panton Hill, site of the Panton Hill diggings and mining area. Travelling along the Warrandyte to Yarra Glen road are several road cuttings exposing slate and diatomite, in addition to the usual sandstones, siltstones and mudstones.
Along the Eastern Freeway, between the City and Nunawading are large exposed cuttings showing folding in the Dargile Formation sediments. Near Collingwood, the freeway cuts through basalt flows and further along there is an outcrop of white diatomite.
Further east lies the ancient volcanic complex of the Dandenong Ranges. Travelling through the Dandenongs, the many road cuttings expose the dominant rocktype of the area, a rhyodacite. Along the margins of the rhyodacite, contact metamorphism of marine sediments has formed hornfels. The old Ferntree Gully quarry is now being turned into a park and hornfels is still visible in the cliff faces around the quarry. Nearby, at Lysterfield, a granite pluton dominates the area. Not much outcrop is accessible, except along some of the road cuttings and bushland areas.
The Mornington Peninsula is a vast area containing many different rocktypes. Probably the most famous mineral location near Melbourne is Cairns Bay, at Flinders, where zeolites are abundant in the basalt shore platforms. Cairns Bay is another source of the Melbourne Museums zeolite collection. Natrolite and Analcime are the most prevalent specimens but many other types of zeolites also occur here.
Along the Mornington Peninsula coast, from Portsea back to Melbourne, are sandy bay beaches interspersed with cliffs of sandstone.
The west of Melbourne is largely covered by a series of basalt flows over older sedimentary basement. There are many scoria cones in the area that once were eruption points for the basalt. The scoria rock is popular in Melbourne gardens. Crystals of olivine and pyroxene sometimes are present in the scoria and the scoria cones make good collecting areas.
One of few occurrences of alkali rocks outcrops near Campbellfield, at Mt Ridley, an old eruption center. This is a nephelinite, consisting primarily of analcite.
Melbourne and its surrounds are geologically diverse, with many opportunities to study and collect various rocktypes.
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Brachiopod Impressions, Whittlesea
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Zeolite
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Fourth Hill Tunnel, Warrandyte
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Quartz Reef, Warrandyte
