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Mount Lyell (Tasmania)
Encyclopedia
Mount Lyell is a mountain in the West Coast Range, Tasmania
, named by Charles Gould
in 1863 Charles Lyell
was named during the nineteenth century controversy about the theory of evolution put forward by Charles Darwin
, Lyell was a supporter of Darwin's.
It was also the common short name of the Mount Lyell Mining and Railway Company
.
The Mount Lyell company operations centred mainly on the shoulder between Mount Owen
and Mount Lyell, and to the western side of the mountain. On the eastern side of the shoulder was the old North Mount Lyell workings, where the 1912 North Mount Lyell Disaster
occurred.
There was a small operation in the early days of the mining operation that was on the northern side of Mount Lyell, known as the Comstock mine. In the late twentieth century, just west of the Comstock workings was a section of the mine known as Cape Horn. The western end of the mountain has been named 'Cape Horn Spur' - the Mount Lyell Mining and Railway Company had a mine called Cape Horn in the 1970s at the west end of this spur.
There was a unique rail formation that travelled from Linda in the Linda Valley, around the southern, eastern and northern sides of Mount Lyell. It was built (the formation) but the line was never utilised.
The sides of the mountain were subjected to bush fires, smelter fumes and high rainfall, consequently the resultant vegetation and the legacy of tree stumps give the southern sides of the mountain a unique appearance.
West Coast Range context
Tasmania
Tasmania is an Australian island and state. It is south of the continent, separated by Bass Strait. The state includes the island of Tasmania—the 26th largest island in the world—and the surrounding islands. The state has a population of 507,626 , of whom almost half reside in the greater Hobart...
, named by Charles Gould
Charles Gould (geologist)
Charles Gould was the first Geological Surveyor of Tasmania 1859-69.He was born on the 4th June 1834 in England He conducted three expeditions into Western Tasmania in the 1860's.He named many of the mountains on the West Coast Range....
in 1863 Charles Lyell
Charles Lyell
Sir Charles Lyell, 1st Baronet, Kt FRS was a British lawyer and the foremost geologist of his day. He is best known as the author of Principles of Geology, which popularised James Hutton's concepts of uniformitarianism – the idea that the earth was shaped by slow-moving forces still in operation...
was named during the nineteenth century controversy about the theory of evolution put forward by Charles Darwin
Charles Darwin
Charles Robert Darwin FRS was an English naturalist. He established that all species of life have descended over time from common ancestry, and proposed the scientific theory that this branching pattern of evolution resulted from a process that he called natural selection.He published his theory...
, Lyell was a supporter of Darwin's.
It was also the common short name of the Mount Lyell Mining and Railway Company
Mount Lyell Mining and Railway Company
Mount Lyell Mining and Railway Company was a Tasmanian mining company formed on the 29 March 1893, most commonly referred to as Mount Lyell. Mount Lyell was the dominant copper mining company of the West Coast from 1893 to 1994, and was based in Queenstown, Tasmania.Following consolidation of...
.
The Mount Lyell company operations centred mainly on the shoulder between Mount Owen
Mount Owen (Tasmania)
Mount Owen is the mountain directly east of the town of Queenstown in Tasmania, Australia.Like most of the mountains in the West Coast Range - it was named by Charles Gould after Richard Owen as the taller mountains were named after opponents or critics of Charles Darwin, the smaller after his...
and Mount Lyell, and to the western side of the mountain. On the eastern side of the shoulder was the old North Mount Lyell workings, where the 1912 North Mount Lyell Disaster
1912 North Mount Lyell Disaster
The 1912 North Mount Lyell Disaster refers to a fire that broke out on 12 October 1912 at the Mount Lyell Mining and Railway Company operations on the West Coast of Tasmania...
occurred.
There was a small operation in the early days of the mining operation that was on the northern side of Mount Lyell, known as the Comstock mine. In the late twentieth century, just west of the Comstock workings was a section of the mine known as Cape Horn. The western end of the mountain has been named 'Cape Horn Spur' - the Mount Lyell Mining and Railway Company had a mine called Cape Horn in the 1970s at the west end of this spur.
There was a unique rail formation that travelled from Linda in the Linda Valley, around the southern, eastern and northern sides of Mount Lyell. It was built (the formation) but the line was never utilised.
The sides of the mountain were subjected to bush fires, smelter fumes and high rainfall, consequently the resultant vegetation and the legacy of tree stumps give the southern sides of the mountain a unique appearance.
West Coast Range context
- North - Mount Sedgwick
- Mount Lyell
- South - Mount OwenMount Owen (Tasmania)Mount Owen is the mountain directly east of the town of Queenstown in Tasmania, Australia.Like most of the mountains in the West Coast Range - it was named by Charles Gould after Richard Owen as the taller mountains were named after opponents or critics of Charles Darwin, the smaller after his...