Kangaroo Head

Kangaroo Head
South Australia
Kangaroo Head
Coordinates 35°43′6″S 137°54′13″E / 35.71833°S 137.90361°E / -35.71833; 137.90361Coordinates: 35°43′6″S 137°54′13″E / 35.71833°S 137.90361°E / -35.71833; 137.90361
LGA(s) Kangaroo Island Council
Localities around Kangaroo Head:
Investigator Strait Investigator Strait Investigator Strait
Nepean Bay Kangaroo Head Backstairs Passage
Nepean Bay Dudley Peninsula Dudley Peninsula

Kangaroo Head is a headland located at the north-west tip of Dudley Peninsula on Kangaroo Island in South Australia. It was named by Matthew Flinders on 23 March 1802.

Description

Kangaroo Head is the north-west tip of Dudley Peninsula on Kangaroo Island and overlooks Nepean Bay to the west, Investigator Strait to the north and Backstairs Passage to the east. It is the termination for a pair of coastlines - one extending from Cape Willoughby in the east via Backstairs Passage and the other extending from Strawbridge Point in the south via Nepean Bay.[1] It is described as ‘a bluff, rocky point marked by a conspicuous white cairn’ where the land behind ‘rises steeply to heights of 91 metres (299 ft) to 122 metres (400 ft)’.[2]

Formation, geology & oceanography

Kangaroo Head was formed when the sea reached its present level 7,500 years ago after sea levels started to rise at the start of the Holocene.[3] The cliff line which includes Kangaroo Head consists of a grey metasandstone belonging to the Kanmantoo group bedrock known as the Tananappa Formation.[4] The water adjoining Kangaroo Head drops to a depth of 13 metres (43 ft) at the base of its cliff face.[5]

History

Aboriginal use

As of 1999, the literature had not cited any archaeological discoveries specific to Aboriginal use of land in the immediate vicinity of Kangaroo Head.[6]

European discovery

Kangaroo Head was discovered and named by Matthew Flinders on 23 March 1802. This place was where Flinders first sighted Mount Lofty, the tallest peak in the Mount Lofty Ranges.[7]

Economic activity

As of 2014, the land adjoining Kangaroo Head is used for farming. Farming activity at the locality had been underway prior to 1945 when most of the land had been reported as being cleared of native vegetation.[8]

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. ↑ Pub175, Sailing directions (enroute) north, west, and south coast of Australia (PDF) (10th ed.). National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency. 2010. p. 205. Retrieved 16 May 2014.
  3. ↑ Robinson, A. C. & Armstrong, D. M. (ed.). 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 (Government of South Australia, DMITRE) 47: 28–31. ISSN 1326-3544. 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. (ed.). 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, and subsequently in the armed vessel Porpoise and Cumberland Schooner; with an account of the shipwreck of the Porpoise, arrival of the Cumberland at Mauritius, and imprisonment of the commander during six years and a half in that island. (Facsimile ed.). Adelaide; Facsimile reprint of: London : G. and W. Nicol, 1814 ed. In two volumes, with an Atlas (3 volumes): Libraries Board of South Australia. pp. 251–252. Retrieved 27 March 2013.
  8. ↑ Robinson, A. C. & Armstrong, D. M. (ed.). 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.
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