Shoalhaven District Geology

  FIELD GEOLOGY OF THE SHOALHAVEN DISTRICT (PART 7)  Chapter 3 (continued) THE NOWRA DISTRICT. EXCURSIONS 3c, d AND e Excursion 3c  Crookhaven Heads, Culburra and Calalla  (41 miles)  Isolated coastal outcrops of fossiliferous siltstone provide good localities to study representative Permian marine fossils.  Route: Nowra-Pyree-Crookhaven Heads-Culburra-Calalla Point-Forest Road-South Nowra-Nowra  Take the Greenwell Point road and turn right at Pyree. The road crosses Crookhaven Creek and then the flood gates at the Saltwater Swamp, an area still of little agricultural use because of its high salt content.  Go straight to  Crookhaven Heads  and stop to the right of the Pilot Station. Walk through to the beach.  Stop 1. The sediments exposed here are miles from the nearest  Weathered dyke at Crookhaven Heads June 1963 rocks of known age, at Coolangatta or Currarong. They are considered by most geologists to belong to the Wandrawa...

FIELD GEOLOGY OF THE SHOALHAVEN DISTRICT (PART 6) Chapter 3: The Nowra District   Nowra  is strategically built on the first flood-free site upstream on the south bank of the Shoalhaven River. It was not an important settlement until about 1880, when Terara was extensively flooded. Soon after, the coming of the railway and the construction of the present road bridge assured its development as a rural centre. Today, it is a rapidly growing town, with developing industry, tourism, and defence establishments.  Several factors dominate the geology of the area. The Nowra Sandstone has provided a resistant surface, broken only by the Shoalhaven River and a few of its tributaries. Where this sandstone has dipped below sea level at Nowra, an extensive flood plain has developed, the origin of which is of considerable interest and will be explained later.  Coolangatta Mountain  is the only unusual feature in the area. It is really an outlying part of the Cambewarra Range,...

  FIELD GEOLOGY OF THE SHOALHAVEN DISTRICT (PART 5) Reminder that all the maps, diagrams etc referred to in the text have been lost. CHAPTER 2 CONTINUED Excursion 2b   Gerringong- Berry  (17 miles)  This excursion deals mainly with the stratigraphy of the Berry Formation and the effects of differing lithology on landforms and soil fertility.  Route: Prince’s Highway from Gerringong to Berry, with diversions to Toolijooa and Foxground.  Gerringong is close to the former centre of Permian volcanic activity. On this excursion, the flows are seen to become thinner and finally vanish while the tuffaceous sediments merge to become one unit, the Broughton Sandstone.  Stop 1. In the road cutting opposite Gerringong station, the Kiama Sandstone is well exposed. It is much the same as the outcrops seen at Kiama and Bombo, but with a higher proportion of pebbles.  Proceed towards  Berry . Outcrops of Kiama Sandstone are seen for the next two miles, at w...