Sea Cliff along Tasmanian Coast. Tasmania, the largest island of Australia, has a landmass of approximately 68,401 km2 (26,410 sq mi) and is located directly in the pathway of the notorious Roaring Forties wind current that encircles the globe. To its north, it is separated from mainland Australia by the Bass Strait. Tasmania is the only Australian state not located on the Australian mainland. About 2,500 km (1,300 nautical miles) south of Tasmania, lies the George V Coast of Antarctica. Depending on which borders of the oceans are used, the island can be said to be either surrounded by the Southern Ocean, or to have the Pacific on its east and the Indian to its west. Still, other definitions of the ocean boundaries would have Tasmania with the Great Australian Bight to the west and the Tasman Sea to the east.
The photograph above shows a sea cliff along the Tasmanian coast cut into sandstone, with a block and boulder deposit at the base of the cliff. These cliffs were formed like giant layer-cakes when mud and silt were deposited into the sea about 270 million years ago. Some of the bluffs feature a combination of glacial Permian tillite, sandstone, and basalt. Earth movements cracked the rock, creating vertical joints which enabled the sea to erode caves, tunnels, and platforms into the sea cliffs. (Photograph taken by Vic Semeniuk, V & C Semeniuk Research Group,Warwick,Western Australia.)
Sea Cliff along Tasmanian Coast. Tasmania, the largest island of Australia, has a landmass of approximately 68,401 km2 (26,410 sq mi) and is located directly in the pathway of the notorious Roaring Forties wind current that encircles the globe. To its north, it is separated from mainland Australia by the Bass Strait. Tasmania is the only Australian state not located on the Australian mainland. About 2,500 km (1,300 nautical miles) south of Tasmania, lies the George V Coast of Antarctica. Depending on which borders of the oceans are used, the island can be said to be either surrounded by the Southern Ocean, or to have the Pacific on its east and the Indian to its west. Still, other definitions of the ocean boundaries would have Tasmania with the Great Australian Bight to the west and the Tasman Sea to the east.
The photograph above shows a sea cliff along the Tasmanian coast cut into sandstone, with a block and boulder deposit at the base of the cliff. These cliffs were formed like giant layer-cakes when mud and silt were deposited into the sea about 270 million years ago. Some of the bluffs feature a combination of glacial Permian tillite, sandstone, and basalt. Earth movements cracked the rock, creating vertical joints which enabled the sea to erode caves, tunnels, and platforms into the sea cliffs. (Photograph taken by Vic Semeniuk, V & C Semeniuk Research Group,Warwick,Western Australia.)
