Volcanoes - In My Backyard?
Australia has a mix of dormant volcanoes and active volcanoes. Australian volcanoes have erupted as recently as 2005.
Mount Schank – South Australia
Mount Schank is a volcanic cone that formed about 5,000 years ago. Even though that sounds like a long time ago, it is still considered to be one of the youngest volcanoes in Australia.
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The Mt Noorat crater
Mount Noorat - Victoria
One of the main features of Mt Noorat is its crater that is 85 metres deep.
Surrounding the main crater is a number of other smaller craters (or depressions) which are probably other eruption points.
Mount Noorat is considered to be Australia’s largest dry volcanic crater, measuring 310 metres above sea level.
Mount Fox – Queensland
Mount Fox was created by a volcanic explosion about 100,000 years ago. During the eruption, a lava flow 10 metres thick came from the southern end of the crater and chunks of molten magma were ejected out of the vent.
Mount Fox has a crater that is about 10 metres deep and is surrounded by large rocks, known as ‘bombs’.
Active Volcanoes in Australia
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Big Ben is an active volcano in Australia
There are two active volcanoes in the Australian Antarctic Territories of Heard Island and McDonald Island.
The bigger of these two volcanoes is called Big Ben (2750 meters).
The volcano on McDonald Island is an active volcano, having erupted for the first time in 1992 and again in August 2005.