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Glass House Mountains (Queensland)
Encyclopedia
The Glass House Mountains are a group of eleven hills that rise abruptly from the coastal plain on the Sunshine Coast
, Queensland
, Australia
. The highest mountain is Mount Beerwah
at 556 m above sea level, but the most identifiable of all the mountains is Mount Tibrogargan
which appears like a giant ape sitting by the roadside staring out to sea.
The mountains were named by explorer Captain James Cook
on 17 May, 1770. The peaks reminded him of the glass furnace
s in his home county of Yorkshire
. Matthew Flinders
explored the area and climbed Mount Beerburrum after sailing along Pumicestone Passage
in 1799.
cooled to form hard rock in the cores of volcano
es between 26-27 million years ago. The source of the lava was from the East Australia hotspot
. The cores of the mountains contain columns of comendite
from lava which cools quickly into a hard rock. The surrounding softer rocks have been eroded in the subsequent time, forming the spectacular volcanic plug
s that remain today. The peaks location relative to each other exhibits an alignment that is believed to have occurred due to fracturing.
. Some of the peaks display vertical columns, particularly Mount Coonowrin, Mount Ngungun and Mount Beerwah at the Organ Pipes. These columns are the result of lava contraction. Scattered throughout the mountains are shallow caves which have been formed by wind erosion on rocks that were softened by groundwater. The names of each mountain in the range are:
The peaks are culturally significant to the traditional owners, the Gubbi Gubbi people. Under a native title claim, access to the peaks would be restricted as they are considered spiritual places. To the south east of the Glass House Mountains
township is an Aboriginal bora ring
.
In the land between the peak, pineapple and poultry farming, as well as commercial forestry are the main land uses.
the mountains are members of a family with the father being Mount Tibrogargan
and the mother Mount Beerwah
. All of the other mountains are sons and daughters with the eldest being Mount Coonowrin
.
Tibrogargan, the father, observes that the sea is rising and asks that Coonowrin the eldest son help their pregnant mother to safety. Terrified, Coonowrin instead flees. Infuriated by his sons cowardice Tibrogargan pursues him and strikes him so hard that he dislocates Coonowrin's neck.
Once the danger passes Coonowrin feels tremendous guilt for his actions and asks his father, brothers and sisters for forgiveness but all wept with shame. This is said to explain the many small streams that flow through the area. Tibrogargan turned his back on Coonowrin and gazes out to sea refusing to look at his son Coonowrin who continues to hang his head in shame and weeps.
Sunshine Coast, Queensland
The Sunshine Coast is an urban area in South East Queensland, north of the state capital of Brisbane on the Pacific Ocean coastline. Although it does not have a central business district, by population it ranks as the 10th largest metropolis in Australia and the third largest in...
, Queensland
Queensland
Queensland is a state of Australia, occupying the north-eastern section of the mainland continent. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Australia and New South Wales to the west, south-west and south respectively. To the east, Queensland is bordered by the Coral Sea and Pacific Ocean...
, Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
. The highest mountain is Mount Beerwah
Mount Beerwah
Mount Beerwah is the highest of the ten volcanic plugs in the Glass House Mountains range, 22 km north of Caboolture in South East Queensland, Australia. It was formed 26 million years ago during the tertiary period....
at 556 m above sea level, but the most identifiable of all the mountains is Mount Tibrogargan
Mount Tibrogargan
Mount Tibrogargan is one of the many mountains in the Glass House Mountains National Park, north-northwest of Brisbane, Australia. It is a volcanic plug of hard alkali rhyolite that squeezed up into the vents of an ancient volcano 27 million years ago....
which appears like a giant ape sitting by the roadside staring out to sea.
The mountains were named by explorer Captain James Cook
James Cook
Captain James Cook, FRS, RN was a British explorer, navigator and cartographer who ultimately rose to the rank of captain in the Royal Navy...
on 17 May, 1770. The peaks reminded him of the glass furnace
Furnace
A furnace is a device used for heating. The name derives from Latin fornax, oven.In American English and Canadian English, the term furnace on its own is generally used to describe household heating systems based on a central furnace , and sometimes as a synonym for kiln, a device used in the...
s in his home county of Yorkshire
Yorkshire
Yorkshire is a historic county of northern England and the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its great size in comparison to other English counties, functions have been increasingly undertaken over time by its subdivisions, which have also been subject to periodic reform...
. Matthew Flinders
Matthew Flinders
Captain Matthew Flinders RN was one of the most successful navigators and cartographers of his age. In a career that spanned just over twenty years, he sailed with Captain William Bligh, circumnavigated Australia and encouraged the use of that name for the continent, which had previously been...
explored the area and climbed Mount Beerburrum after sailing along Pumicestone Passage
Pumicestone Passage
Pumicestone Passage, also known as the Pumicestone Channel, is a narrow waterway between Bribie Island and the mainland in Queensland, Australia...
in 1799.
Geology
The range was formed as molten lavaLava
Lava refers both to molten rock expelled by a volcano during an eruption and the resulting rock after solidification and cooling. This molten rock is formed in the interior of some planets, including Earth, and some of their satellites. When first erupted from a volcanic vent, lava is a liquid at...
cooled to form hard rock in the cores of volcano
Volcano
2. Bedrock3. Conduit 4. Base5. Sill6. Dike7. Layers of ash emitted by the volcano8. Flank| 9. Layers of lava emitted by the volcano10. Throat11. Parasitic cone12. Lava flow13. Vent14. Crater15...
es between 26-27 million years ago. The source of the lava was from the East Australia hotspot
East Australia hotspot
The East Australia hotspot is a volcanic hotspot that forces magma up at weak spots in the Indo-Australian Plate to form volcanoes in Eastern Australia. There have been no eruptions in Australia during historic times. It does not produce a single chain of volcanoes like the Hawaiian Islands...
. The cores of the mountains contain columns of comendite
Comendite
Comendite is a hard, peralkaline igneous rock, a type of light blue grey rhyolite. Phenocrysts are sodic sanidine with minor albite and bipyrimidal quartz. Comendite occurs in the mountains Tibrogargan, Coonowrin, Tunbubudla, Coochin, Saddleback, Tibberoowuccum and Ngungun in the Glass House...
from lava which cools quickly into a hard rock. The surrounding softer rocks have been eroded in the subsequent time, forming the spectacular volcanic plug
Volcanic plug
A volcanic plug, also called a volcanic neck or lava neck, is a volcanic landform created when magma hardens within a vent on an active volcano. When forming, a plug can cause an extreme build-up of pressure if volatile-charged magma is trapped beneath it, and this can sometimes lead to an...
s that remain today. The peaks location relative to each other exhibits an alignment that is believed to have occurred due to fracturing.
Peaks
Each of the peaks is protected within the Glass House Mountains National ParkGlass House Mountains National Park
Glass House Mountains National Park is a national park in Queensland , north of Brisbane. It consists of a flat plain punctuated by rhyolite and trachyte volcanic plugs, the cores of extinct volcanoes that formed 27 million to 26 million years ago. The mountains would once have had...
. Some of the peaks display vertical columns, particularly Mount Coonowrin, Mount Ngungun and Mount Beerwah at the Organ Pipes. These columns are the result of lava contraction. Scattered throughout the mountains are shallow caves which have been formed by wind erosion on rocks that were softened by groundwater. The names of each mountain in the range are:
- Mount Beerburrum, 276 m
- Mount BeerwahMount BeerwahMount Beerwah is the highest of the ten volcanic plugs in the Glass House Mountains range, 22 km north of Caboolture in South East Queensland, Australia. It was formed 26 million years ago during the tertiary period....
, 555 m - Mount Coochin, 235 m
- Mount CoonowrinMount CoonowrinCoonowrin is one of the Glass House Mountains, located in Queensland, Australia, located 19 km north of Caboolture or about one hour's drive north of Brisbane. It is easily distinguished because of its rocky formation at the top.- Dreamtime mythology :...
or Crookneck, 377 m - Mount Elimbah or The Saddleback, 129 m
- Mount Ngungun, 253 m
- Mount Tibberoowuccum, 220 m
- Mount TibrogarganMount TibrogarganMount Tibrogargan is one of the many mountains in the Glass House Mountains National Park, north-northwest of Brisbane, Australia. It is a volcanic plug of hard alkali rhyolite that squeezed up into the vents of an ancient volcano 27 million years ago....
, 364 m - Mount Tunbubudla or the Twins, 312 and 293 m
- Wild Horse Mountain or Round Mountain, 123 m
- Mount Miketeebumulgrai: 199m
Glass House Mountains, Queensland
Glass House Mountains is a hinterland town of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland, Australia, named after the famous Glass House Mountains of the area. It is located approximately 64 km north of Brisbane, belonging to the Sunshine Coast Regional Council local government area . Colloquially it is...
township is an Aboriginal bora ring
Bora (Australian)
A Bora is the name given both to an initiation ceremony of Indigenous Australians, and to the site on which the initiation is performed. At such a site, young boys are transformed into men. The initiation ceremony differs from culture to culture, but often involves circumcision and scarification,...
.
In the land between the peak, pineapple and poultry farming, as well as commercial forestry are the main land uses.
Aboriginal legend
The Glass House Mountains are located in the traditional lands of the Gubbi Gubbi people. In the Aboriginal legendAustralian Aboriginal mythology
Australian Aboriginal myths are the stories traditionally performed by Aboriginal peoples within each of the language groups across Australia....
the mountains are members of a family with the father being Mount Tibrogargan
Mount Tibrogargan
Mount Tibrogargan is one of the many mountains in the Glass House Mountains National Park, north-northwest of Brisbane, Australia. It is a volcanic plug of hard alkali rhyolite that squeezed up into the vents of an ancient volcano 27 million years ago....
and the mother Mount Beerwah
Mount Beerwah
Mount Beerwah is the highest of the ten volcanic plugs in the Glass House Mountains range, 22 km north of Caboolture in South East Queensland, Australia. It was formed 26 million years ago during the tertiary period....
. All of the other mountains are sons and daughters with the eldest being Mount Coonowrin
Mount Coonowrin
Coonowrin is one of the Glass House Mountains, located in Queensland, Australia, located 19 km north of Caboolture or about one hour's drive north of Brisbane. It is easily distinguished because of its rocky formation at the top.- Dreamtime mythology :...
.
Tibrogargan, the father, observes that the sea is rising and asks that Coonowrin the eldest son help their pregnant mother to safety. Terrified, Coonowrin instead flees. Infuriated by his sons cowardice Tibrogargan pursues him and strikes him so hard that he dislocates Coonowrin's neck.
Once the danger passes Coonowrin feels tremendous guilt for his actions and asks his father, brothers and sisters for forgiveness but all wept with shame. This is said to explain the many small streams that flow through the area. Tibrogargan turned his back on Coonowrin and gazes out to sea refusing to look at his son Coonowrin who continues to hang his head in shame and weeps.