Kangaroo Head

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

This article is about the headland in South Australia. For the associated locality, see Kangaroo Head, South Australia.

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

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 feet) to 122 metres (400 feet)’.[2] Since 2002, it has been located within the gazetted locality of Kangaroo Head.[3]

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.[4] The cliff line which includes Kangaroo Head consists of a grey metasandstone belonging to the Kanmantoo group bedrock known as the Tananappa Formation.[5] The water adjoining Kangaroo Head drops to a depth of 13 metres (43 feet) at the base of its cliff face.[6]

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.[7]

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.[8]

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.[9]

See also

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. Sailing Directions (Enroute), Pub. 175: North, West, and South Coasts of Australia (PDF). Sailing Directions. United States National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency. 2017. p. 215.
  3. "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.
  4. 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.
  5. 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. Archived (PDF) from the original on 27 May 2016. Retrieved 18 May 2014.
  6. 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
  7. 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.
  8. 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: Libraries Board of South Australia. pp. 251–252. Retrieved 27 March 2013.
  9. 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.
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