Kangaroo Head

Kangaroo Head
South Australia
Kangaroo Head is located in South Australia
Kangaroo Head
Kangaroo Head
Coordinates35°43′6″S 137°54′13″E / 35.71833°S 137.90361°E / -35.71833; 137.90361
LGA(s)Kangaroo Island Council

Kangaroo Head is a headland that sticks out into the sea in South Australia. It is at the northwest tip of Dudley Peninsula on Kangaroo Island. The British explorer Matthew Flinders named it on March 23, 1802.

Description

Kangaroo Head is at the northwest end of Dudley Peninsula. It looks over Nepean Bay to the west, Investigator Strait to the north, and Backstairs Passage to the east. Two coastlines meet here: one comes from Cape Willoughby in the east through Backstairs Passage, and the other comes from Strawbridge Point in the south through Nepean Bay. Kangaroo Head is a rocky point with a clear white pile of stones (called a cairn). The land behind it rises steeply to heights between 91 m (299 ft) and 122 m (400 ft). Since 2002, it has been officially part of the area called Kangaroo Head.

Formation, geology, and ocean

Kangaroo Head was made about 7,500 years ago when the sea level rose to where it is now, at the start of the Holocene period. The cliffs at Kangaroo Head are made of a type of grey rock called metasandstone, part of the Kanmantoo group, known as the Tananappa Formation. The water next to Kangaroo Head is about 13 m (43 ft) deep at the bottom of the cliffs.

History

Aboriginal use

As of 1999, there were no known archaeological finds showing Aboriginal people used the land right at Kangaroo Head.

European discovery

Matthew Flinders found and named Kangaroo Head on March 23, 1802. It was the place where he first saw Mount Lofty, the highest mountain in the Mount Lofty Ranges.

Farming

By 2014, the land near Kangaroo Head was used for farming. Farming had started before 1945, and most of the native plants had been cleared by then.

References

  1. ↑ South Australia. Department of Marine and Harbors (1985), The Waters of South Australia a series of charts, sailing notes and coastal photographs, Dept. of Marine and Harbors, South Australia, pp. Chart 12, ISBN 978-0-7243-7603-2
  2. ↑ "Search result for "Kangaroo Head (Locality Bounded)" (Record no SA0058060) with the following layers selected - "Suburbs and Localities" and "Place names (gazetteer)"". Department of Planning, Transport and Infrastructure. Archived from the original on 12 October 2016. Retrieved 2 May 2016.
  3. ↑ Robinson, A. C.; Armstrong, D. M. (eds.). A Biological Survey of Kangaroo Island, South Australia, 1989 & 1990 (PDF). Adelaide, SA: Heritage and Biodiversity Section, Department for Environment, Heritage and Aboriginal Affairs, South Australia. p. 26. ISBN 0 7308 5862 6. Retrieved 1 May 2014.
  4. ↑ Fairclough, Martin C (December 2007). "KINGSCOTE Special 1:250 000 geological map" (PDF). MESA Journal. 47. Government of South Australia, DMITRE: 28–31. ISSN 1326-3544. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2016-05-27. Retrieved 18 May 2014.
  5. ↑ South Australia. Department of Marine and Harbors (1985), The Waters of South Australia a series of charts, sailing notes and coastal photographs, Dept. of Marine and Harbors, South Australia, pp. Chart 13, ISBN 978-0-7243-7603-2
  6. ↑ Robinson, A. C.; Armstrong, D. M. (eds.). A Biological Survey of Kangaroo Island, South Australia, 1989 & 1990 (PDF). Adelaide, SA: Heritage and Biodiversity Section, Department for Environment, Heritage and Aboriginal Affairs, South Australia. pp. 34–35. ISBN 0 7308 5862 6. Retrieved 1 May 2014.
  7. ↑ Flinders, Matthew (1966) [1814]. A Voyage to Terra Australis: Undertaken for the Purpose of Completing the Discovery of that Vast Country, and Prosecuted in the Years 1801, 1802, and 1803, in His Majesty's Ship the Investigator. Adelaide: Libraries Board of South Australia. pp. 251–252. LCCN 66070225. OCLC 4565366. OL 38607138M. Wikidata Q133875246.
  8. ↑ Robinson, A. C.; Armstrong, D. M. (eds.). A Biological Survey of Kangaroo Island, South Australia, 1989 & 1990 (PDF). Adelaide, SA: Heritage and Biodiversity Section, Department for Environment, Heritage and Aboriginal Affairs, South Australia. p. 52. ISBN 0 7308 5862 6. Retrieved 1 May 2014.