8222-1 Doldorook - Wellington Rivers
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This information has been developed from the publications:
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Location: | 725453. 13 kilometres north-east of Licola. |  Columnar jointing in Wellington Rhyolite, Wellington River |
Abstract: | Outcrops of Cambrian and Ordovician volcanics and sediments. Large number of fossil localities. | |
Access: | Walk from Tamboritha Road. | |
Ownership: | Crown land. | |
Geology: | The Dolodrook River - Wellington Rivers inlier of Cambrian rocks are faulted against undifferentiated Ordovician sandstone, mudstone and shale to the west against the Avon River Group. Partially serpentinised Mount Wellington Greenstones which include lavas, tuffs and agglomerates are exposed in the Dolodrook River near the junction with the Wellington River and also at the junction of Thiel Creek and Roan Horse Gully. Chromite associated with serpentinite occurs in bands and weathered out boulders at A. Conformably overlying the greenstones are the Garvey Gully Tuffs interbedded with the Dolodrook Limestone Member containing two trilobite faunas. The limestone appears as a series of lenses in outcrop occurring near the junction of the Dolodrook River and Blacksoil Creek, in Thiel Creek and in Road Horse Gully. The fauna collected from these sites contains general characteristic of the European Middle Cambrian although it has been suggested that the Dolodrook Limestone may be near the Middle/Late Cambrian boundary. Flanking the Greenstones, and outcropping near the junction of the Dolodrook and Wellington Rivers, are black cherts of probably Cambro-Ordovician age which are, in turn, faulted against the Upper Ordovician Mount Easton Beds. These beds consist of thinly bedded black sandstone, shale and paper shale which are highly fossiliferous and which have yielded one of the richest Late Ordovician faunas in the State. There are a large number of sites (F), from which graptolites have been obtained. Several of the major sites are shown. Downstream from the junction with Gorge Creek the Wellington River has excavated a gorge in Wellington Rhyolite. These rhyolites are columnar jointed and rise in stepped cliffs to approximately 50 m in height. | |
Significance: | State. One of the richest Cambrian and Ordovician faunas recorded in the State occur at this site. The Cambrian lithologies have been used as a basis for comparison with other Cambrian rocks of Victoria. The old chromite mining site is the only one in Victoria. | |
Management: | The inaccessible nature of the site provides protection for the valuable fossil sites occurring in this area. Any future upgrading of access could degrade the quality of these fossil areas. Dam construction which would result in the flooding of the Wellington and Dodorook Rivers would obscure outcrop and significantly degrade the site. | |
References: | Dunn, E.J. 1909. 'The Serpentine area, Wellington River, Gippsland', Rec. geol. Surv. Vict., 3 :65. Harris, W.J. and Thomas , D.E. 1954. 'Notes on the geology of the Wellington-Macalister area', Min. geol. J. Vict., 5(3) :191-197. Thomas, D.E. and Singleton, O.P. 1956. The Cambrian Stratigraphy of Victoria', Int. geol. Congr., 20(2) :149-163. Douglas , J.G. and Ferguson, J.A., (eds) 1976. Geology of Victoria. Geological Society of Australia, Special Publication No.5. | |
Site 8222-1 - 3
This information has been developed from the publications:
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