Listing Volcanoes in Australia Prominence 150 m | Elevation 440 m | |
 | ||
Volcanic arc/belt Newer Volcanics Province Similar Mount Noorat, Mount Elephant, Mount Leura, Mount Macedon, Mount Fraser | ||
Mount Napier in Victoria, Australia, is one of the youngest volcanoes in Australia. It erupted about 32,000 years ago. It was named by Major Thomas Mitchell after the three Napier brothers, who he had served alongside during the Peninsular War. Mount Napier State Park is located 270 kilometres west of Melbourne and 17 km south of Hamilton.
Contents
Map of Mount Napier, VIC 3301, Australia
Location and features
Mount Napier has a composite lava shield with a superimposed scoria cone. The cone rises 500 feet (150 m) above the surrounding plains to an elevation of 1,440 feet (440 m), making it the highest point on the Western District Plains of Victoria. Mount Napier is part of the Newer Volcanics Province, which is the youngest volcanic region in Australia. The Newer Volcanics Province covers an area of 6,000 square miles (15,000 square km) and contains over 400 vents.
The Mount Napier Lava Flow followed the Harman Valley west from the volcano, and then south towards nearby Mount Eccles which is 25 km south-west of Mount Napier. Lava blisters or tumuli occur along the flow - these are house-sized mounds of basalt rocks. The blisters are the best developed in Australia and uncommon in the rest of the world. They are formed by the pressure of liquid lava pushing up against the crust. Several caves and lava tubes can also be found at Byaduk.
The native vegetation of Mount Napier State Park, on the western side of the mountain, varies from grassy woodland to tall open forest dominated by Manna Gum Eucalyptus viminalis, Blackwood Acacia melanoxylon, Austral Bracken Pteridium esculentum and Common Tussock Grass Poa labillardieri. This hosts a variety of native fauna, including birds, marsupials and mammals, including bats (Bird 1997).