CANBERRA CAN'T BEER
Canberra Community News - Tuesday 11 January 1927
National Library of Australia
Canberra Community News - Tuesday 11 January 1927
National Library of Australia
CANBERRA'S CAVES
A little known fact is that Canberra is built on the top of numerous limestone caves...
In 1821 Charles Throsby (1777 - 1828) (bio here) whilst exploring described a region with ‘very fine limestone, in quantities perfectly inexhaustible’. By 1822 this description reflected the name given, the 'Limestone Plains' (present day Canberra). The Plains were dotted with outcrops of limestone and the (later) site of Canberra was described as 'largely treeless and even small limestone outcrops and water filled sinkholes were conspicuous in the landscape'.
Much of the limestone is rich in fossils and important specimens were collected in the 1870's yielding a rich fauna of corals, shells, bryozoans, crinoids and trilobites. These were the first record of Silurian fossils found in Australia. Of particular note are sites at Woolshed Creek, Mount Majura, Red Hill and Jerrabomberra Creek.
Limestone caves in the ACT are found on the plain now occupied by the city area and along t…
In 1821 Charles Throsby (1777 - 1828) (bio here) whilst exploring described a region with ‘very fine limestone, in quantities perfectly inexhaustible’. By 1822 this description reflected the name given, the 'Limestone Plains' (present day Canberra). The Plains were dotted with outcrops of limestone and the (later) site of Canberra was described as 'largely treeless and even small limestone outcrops and water filled sinkholes were conspicuous in the landscape'.
Much of the limestone is rich in fossils and important specimens were collected in the 1870's yielding a rich fauna of corals, shells, bryozoans, crinoids and trilobites. These were the first record of Silurian fossils found in Australia. Of particular note are sites at Woolshed Creek, Mount Majura, Red Hill and Jerrabomberra Creek.
Limestone caves in the ACT are found on the plain now occupied by the city area and along t…
