Your gateway to a wide range of natural resources information and associated maps

Victorian Resources Online

  1. Victorian Resources Online
    1. Catchment Management Regions
      1. East Gippsland Region
        1. Landform
          1. Elevation
          2. Land Systems
          3. 3D Catchment Overview
          4. Sites of Geological and Geomorphological Significance
          5. Geomorphology
          6. Land Use
          7. Soil
          8. Land and Water Management
    2. Soil and Land Survey Directory
    3. VRO Sitemap
    4. VRO Feedback

8723-3 The Sisters

This information has been developed from the publications:

    • Sites of Geological and Geomorphological Significance in Central Gippsland (1981) by Neville Rosengren, M.S McRae-Williams and S.M Kraemers.
    • Sites of Geological and Geomorphological Significance in the Gippsland Lakes Catchment (1984) by Neville Rosengren.
    • Sites of Geological and Geomorphological Significance in East Gippsland, Victoria (1981) by Neville Rosengren, M.S McRae-Williams
Geological heritage sites, including sites of geomorphological interest and volcanic heritage sites, are under regular revision by the Geological Society of Australia, especially in the assessment of significance and values. Reference should be made to the most recent reports. See the Earth Science Heritage section of the Geological Society of Australia website for details of geological heritage reports, and a bibliography.


Location:
85463. Eight kilometres north-east of Combienbar

Image: East Gippsland Sites of Significance
Conglomerates and sandstone at The Three Sisters.

Abstract:
Exposures of Upper Devonian sediments.

Access:
The Three Sisters Track.

Ownership:
Crown Land.

Geology:
The Three Sisters are an outcrop of Upper Devonian Cann River Beds. These sedimentary rocks are preserved in a garben structure, which is bounded by the Buldah Fault in the east, and by unnamed fault to the northwest. Fault movements along the eastern and western edges of the graben have influenced the strike of the sediments and increased the dips by drag effects. These movements have resulted in an asymmetrically synclinal structure within the fault trough. The affect of the boundary fault along the western edge of the Cann River decreases towards the south until, at the Three Sisters, the contact between the Ordovician and Devonian sediments appears to be an unconformable, rather than faulted relationship.

Conglomerates, pebbly sandstones and medium to fine-grained sandstones are exposed in cliffs between 30 and 40 metres in height at the Three Sisters. The clasts of the conglomerates and predominantly of well rounded quartz and sub-rounded to sub-angular quartzite, sandstone and slate.

Differential erosion of the finer sandstones has highlighted the conglomerate clasts in the sediments and produced substantial overhangs on the cliff face in several areas, and small solution caverns at the cliff block wasting of prominent overhangs

Significance:
Regional. The Three Sisters escarpments provide the best exposure of the lower beds of the Devonian Cann River sedimentary sequence.

Management:
The significance of the site is dependent upon the maintenance of the Three Sisters escarpment. Land use which would alter the physical configuration of this feature should be avoided.

References:
Spencer- Jones (1967)


Image: East Gippsland Sites of Significance
Conglomerates and sandstone at The Three Sisters.

Image: East Gippsland Sites of Significance
The Three Sisters. Upper Devonian sediments forming escarpment (arrowed), on western limb of syncline.
Page top

For information about DJPR please contact:

Phone: 136 186

National Relay Service: 133 677 or relayservice.gov.au

Email: customer.service@ecodev.vic.gov.au

Online: Contact us

Copyright

Privacy

Disclaimer

Accessibility
Department of Jobs, Precincts and Regions - Government of Victoria

© State of Victoria (Agriculture Victoria) 1996 - .

Creative Commons License

This work, Victorian Resources Online, is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 licence. You are free to re-use the work under that licence, on the condition that you credit the State of Victoria (Agriculture Victoria) as author, indicate if changes were made and comply with the other licence terms.


The licence does not apply to ‘branding’ or some ‘images or photographs’ that may be owned by third parties. We ask you to seek prior approval to use images using the VRO feedback form. Access to higher quality images can also be provided on request.


This page was last updated on .