Leaders: Dr Garry Davidson & Dr Michael Roach
Attendance at the full excursion is compulsory for KEA208 and any student who does not complete the excursion will be ineligible to proceed with KEA208.
This trip leaves from the School of Earth Sciences early on the morning of Monday 18th February.
Download the Excursion Notice (PDF 93KB)
Contact Garry Davidson if you have any questions not answered by the notice.
Non PDF version of excursion notice below:
Monday 18th – Friday 22nd February
Leaders: Dr Garry Davidson & Dr Michael Roach
An itinerary is listed below for your information, but is subject to changes at short notice to suit access, tides etc. A more comprehensive field guide will be provided at the pre-trip briefing on the morning we leave (see below).
Cost will be $250 per student. This covers accommodation and transport, but not food. Payment can be made by seeing Rose Pongratz at the School of Earth Sciences office prior to the trip. The trip is self-catering in cabin-style shared accommodation. Each cabin has a kitchen-lounge plus bedrooms. If you don’t want to cook your own dinner, then there will be time each evening to eat a pub meal not too far away. We will allow limited time to do supermarket shopping en route to Tasman Peninsula on Day 1 and again in St Helens at the end of Day 3.
Mini-buses will depart from the front of the Earth Sciences building at approximately 9.00 am on Monday 18th February and will return late (about 5.30 pm) on Friday 22nd.
There will be a briefing in R237 (1st year prac room) before we leave to explain what we will see and do on the trip. We will also be taking roll-call, so don’t be late! Please be patient and listen for instructions during the load-up.
We will be using 7 and 12-seater buses for the trip. If you can, please stow your suitcases/packs etc into the buses prior to the briefing, (buses will be secured while the briefing is taking place), or leave you gear by the globe in the foyer. Buses should arrive outside the Earth Sciences entrance by about 8.30 am for loading.
There will be NO pickups en route. Every student MUST leave with the main group from the University. If you think you have a special case for being picked up then contact Garry Davidson. Private vehicles are not permitted.
We will be staying two nights in St Helens at Queechy Cottages (www.queechycottages.com.au) and two nights at Stewarts Bay Caravan Park on the Tasman Peninsula (www.portarthurcaravan-cabinpark.com.au). Accommodation at Queechy is in 3.5 star, comfortable, furnished cabins. At Stewarts Bay you will be in 5 berth ‘cosy cabins’. We may need to allocate you to cabins prior to arriving, because (for legal reasons) the management must have names for everyone checking in. It may be possible to re-arrange people once we have checked in.
The cabins have cooking facilities, or you can walk to shops and eat at a take-away or the pub. Supplies are available from stores in St Helens, and there is a small grocery shop a kilometer from Stewart’s Bay. You will need to bring a lunch to eat in the field most days, as we may not be close to shops. Be sure to carry ample drinking water as well.
We plan to commence each day at 8.00am and we will endeavor to be back at camp about 5.30 pm. There will be a compulsory meeting each night after dinner to discuss the day’s activities. You will have work to complete most nights, and this will form part of your assessment (see below).
Cabins have bedding and towels, but you may want to bring your own beach towel.
• pens, erasers, and coloured pencils
• a rigid A4-sized board and 3 or 4 large bulldog clips
• everyone must have a hand lens!
• a geological hammer is desirable (if you intend doing 3rd year Geology definitely get one!)
• a magnet and a pocket knife/scratcher are very useful
• camera
• waterproofs and stout, comfortable footwear for extended walking, often in scrub or on coastal rocks; bare or uncovered feet are not permitted
• sunscreen lotion, insect repellant and a hat
• safety glasses or sun glasses, to eliminate the possibility of eye damage from rock chips.
Students who are subject to allergic reactions and or have medical conditions eg. asthma etc MUST ensure that they carry the appropriate medication with them on the excursion, and notify their group leader.
DURING YOUR STAY AT QUEECHY COTTAGES & STEWARTS BAY, AND DURING THE EXCURSION WHETHER IN UNIVERSITY CARS, ON CROWN LAND, OR ON PRIVATE PROPERTY, YOU WILL BE SEEN AS REPRESENTATIVES OF THE UNIVERSITY OF TASMANIA AND THE SCHOOL OF EARTH SCIENCES. NO LARRIKINISM, EXCESSIVE ALCOHOL CONSUMPTION OR ILLEGAL DRUGS WILL BE TOLERATED. OFFENDING STUDENTS WILL BE SENT BACK TO HOBART AT THEIR OWN EXPENSE AND FAIL KEA208.
Detailed field notes are to be taken. These should be written in the spaces provided in the field guide and may be examined and marked during the course of the trip. A number of field tests will be held at key outcrops/road sections. These will be done on paper provided, and must be handed in at the completion of the test. They will be returned to you and may be of useful in preparing your report. Sedimentary logs and mapping exercises will also be marked. Most evenings there will be a compulsory meeting to review the day's geology, and introduce the following day's program.
A formal excursion report must be submitted by 5.00 pm Friday 21st March. These are to be placed in the slot in wall of the School of Earth Sciences Office (make sure a cover sheet – available from the container next to the slot - is attached to your report). This report is to be based on your own observations made during the trip and to some extent on relevant literature. Detailed information on the structure and content of the report will be given toward the end of the excursion.
You must write between 2000 and 2500 words (not including the reference list).
The East Coast Excursion will count for 25% of your total KEA208 mark, broken down as follows:
Report (Due 5.00 pm Friday 21st March) 15%
Field tests, exercises & field notes 10%
Note there is a late penalty of 1 mark (out of 15) per day (up to 5 marks per week); no report will be accepted after 5.00 pm Friday 11th April (i.e., 3 weeks after the due date).
There is no single reference that adequately covers the content and aims of this excursion. The principle aim of the trip is for you to learn a variety of field skills and begin to know how to recognise and describe rocks in the field. Best marks are obtained by people who adequately document their own observations made during the trip, and write in a fashion that clearly distinguishes OBSERVATIONS and DESCRIPTIONS from INTERPRETATION!
The excursion report is NOT a literature review, nor is it a ‘stop by stop’ travelogue!
A publication available from Mineral Resources Tasmania (www.mrt.tas.gov.au) called “Geological Survey Bulleting 72 The Geology and Mineral Deposits of Tasmania: a summary” provides excellent overview of Tasmanian geology, contains some useful diagrams and is an excellent place to start.
Other, more detailed descriptions of the geology of NE Tasmania can be found in Mineral Resources Tasmania geological maps and explanatory notes, and the Geological Society of Australia special publication #15: Geology and Mineral Resources of Tasmania, 1989 (eds CF Burrett and EL Martin) is a systematic description of Tasmania’s geology, but is becoming very dated in many areas. It is not necessary to read any of this before the excursion, but these will be helpful references for your report.
Depending on weather and tides this itinerary is subject to modification at short notice.
Assemble ~8.45 am at SES for ~9.30 am departure.
Fuel & provision stop at Sorrell & on to Tasman Peninsula
Stops T1 to T6 – Tasman Peninsula
T1 Parkers Beach – Triassic siltstones and sandstones: the facies concept
T2 Typhus Point – field test
T3 Prices Bay – Triassic sediments mapping exercise
T4 The Blowhole – Permian marine sediments: graphic log and field relations
T5 Devils Kitchen – Permian marine sediments: structure and geomorphology
T6 Tessellated Pavement – Permian marine sediments: structure and geomorphology
Monday & Tuesday night at Stewarts Bay Caravan Park
Travel to St Helens via Bicheno (lunch in Bicheno)
N12 Bicheno granites
N4 Falmouth: St Marys Porphyrite (ignimbrite)
Wednesday & Thursday night at Queechy Cottages, St Helens
N9 Piccaninny Point – granodiorite – sediment contact (mapping exercise)
N10 Upper Scamander Rd (river sedimentary log section)
N3 Upper Scamander Rd (Avenue River structure section)
field tests near Mathinna & Pepper Hill
Return to Hobart via Campbell Town in late afternoon
NB All field tests contribute to overall assessment, as do selected exercises
Download the Excursion Notice (PDF 137KB)
Contact Jocelyn McPhie if you have any questions not answered by the notice.
Non PDF version of excursion notice below:
Monday 18th – Friday 22nd February
Leaders: Professor Jocelyn McPhie, others to be advised
Transport: 12-seat passenger vans. No private cars allowed.
*Monday 18th: Depart 8:30 am. School of Earth Sciences, near Earl Street entrance to the university. Drive to Rosebery with stops on the way.
Tuesday 19th: Pieman Road traverse
Wednesday 20th: Corinna Road traverse, Serpentine Hill
Thursday 21st: Hellyer Mine, Anthony Road traverse
Friday 22nd: Mapping exercise
Saturday 23rd: Mount Lyell, return to Hobart by 6.00 pm.
*Bring packed lunch and have field gear ready for the first day.
Shared cabins at Rosebery Cabin and Tourist Park, Rosebery (03 - 64731366).
The cost of the excursion excluding food is $180 per student for the five nights. Please pay this amount to the School of Earth Sciences Secretary, Ms Rose Pongratz, before the excursion (i.e. by 5 pm Friday 15th February 2013). Anyone with problems in meeting this cost should contact Professor Jocelyn McPhie (j.mcphie@utas.edu.au) by 8th February 2013.
Students will be responsible for all their meals. Rosebery has a hotel, take-away shops, a supermarket and bakery, all within walking distance of the cabins. Cooking facilities are available in the cabins. You may bring food from Hobart, however, there will be daily opportunities to buy groceries and/or meals during the excursion. If you have special dietary needs, bring these items with you as the stores in western Tasmania may not stock them.
During the stay at Rosebery you will be seen as representatives of the School of Earth Sciences and the University of Tasmania. Excessive alcohol consumption, use of illegal drugs or inappropriate behaviour will not be tolerated. Offending students will be sent back to Hobart and fail KEA 306.
All students must bring the following field equipment:
Hand lens, geological hammer, field notebook (suitable for use in wet weather conditions), magnet, scribe or knife, clip board, pencils (ordinary and colour), protractor, ruler, eraser, camera, water bottle, field boots, field clothes, waterproof jacket and waterproof overpants.
Come prepared for extremes of weather – hot-sunny and cold-wet. You must wear good quality field boots (OHS requirement for the mine visits). A day-pack is recommended, especially for the full-day mapping exercises.
Detailed field notes should be taken during the excursion and must be produced when requested by the course leaders. Your field notes will be examined as part of your excursion report. Field books made of water-proof paper and securely bound are recommended. Loose sheets of paper or an A4 writing pad are not acceptable as a field notebook.
One day of the excursion is devoted to an independent mapping exercise. On the other days, students are required to attempt a series of field tests involving description and interpretation of particular outcrops. Each evening, there will be a compulsory meeting to review the day's activities and introduce the following day’s program
A formal excursion report, and your field notes, must be submitted by 5pm, Monday April 15th, 2013, to the School of Earth Sciences Secretary, Ms Rose Pongratz. This report is to be based on your own field observations and relevant literature on the geology, tectonic history and volcanology of western Tasmania. Success largely depends on the quality of the field notes you take. Detailed information on the structure and content of the report will be provided at the beginning of the lectures.
Students will be assessed on this excursion as follows:
Field tests (1-2 per day) and field notebook 15%
Mapping exercise 15%
Excursion report 70%
Seymour DB, Green GR, Calver CR 2006 Geology and Mineral Resources of Tasmania: A summary. Geological Survey Bulletin 72, Mineral Resources Tasmania, pp32.