2.1.4 Hills, valley slopes and plains on granitic Palaeozoic rock (Wartook, Rocky Point)

The granite plutons away from the steep and topographically prominent landforms (Langi Ghiran, western Black Range) are generally subdued hills, low hills and plains with deeply weathered bedrock (such as those at Rocky Point) and the footslopes surrounding prominent mountains and escarpments.

These subdued plutons (often referred to as negative relief) such as the Ararat Granodiorite (Rocky Point at over 550 m) forms topographically lower relief landscapes when compared to the higher relief metamorphic aureoles (e.g. Mount Ararat 618 m) that surround the pluton.

Erosion has seen the unroofing of these plutons from late Palaeozoic time to leave exposures seen today. Slopes are typically moderately to gently inclined with variable weathering producing tors and boulders through to thick kaolin clays. Tributaries are prevalent where saprolite is deepest and ultimately contribute surface and groundwaters into the Wimmera River, Mount Cole Creek and Mount William Creek systems.

The subdued granites are more susceptible to weathering owing their accelerated erosion to higher biotite concentrations and lesser plagioclase than more prominent granitic landscapes (Hill 1992, 1996). Large concentrations of transported residual sand blanket much of the underlying bedrock while in places the regolith is characterised by deep kaolin deposits that are often overlain by later Cainozoic sediments.