FLEURIEU PENINSULA: Matthew Flinders & the Coastal Landforms of SE Australia

'... N.W. high Bluff ... Cape Jervis ... Backstairs Passage ... Apr.7.1802 ... High barren land, much intersected by gullies' - extract from Matthew Flinders' chart (Fleurieu Peninsula) Much of the Fleurieu Peninsula can be considered as the southern extension of the Mt Lofty Range. Compressional forces caused uplift, with large fault-bounded areas forced to rise. Some of the rocks are up to about 1,000 million years in age, the oldest within the Matthew FLINDERS and the Coastal LANDFORMS of SE Australia Web Site / CD-ROM. This page will concentrate upon the area's local features; an inlier, a cape, glacial evidence, and important water bodies.
Normanville Inlier On the western side of Fleurieu Peninsula, between Hallett Cove and Cape Jervis, the ancient, highly metamorphosed basement rock is exposed. This rock formed deep underground through high temperature and pressure. It is a banded rock called gneiss. Such an area of older rock surrounded by younger rock and exposed by erosion is an inlier. The age of this basement rock is greater than 850m.y.	Metamorphic inlier Photo 1: Cliffs of ancient metamorphic inlier, Little Gorge, southern Fleurieu Penisula
The gneiss contains the following minerals: pink feldspar, milky quartz, and black biotite, with some epidote and hornblende as well as layers of mica-rich schist. The beach contains black grains of heavy minerals that have weathered out from the gneiss cliff behind the beach. The terrace or 'bench' (on the left side of the photo, above) is about 10 metres above the present beach. It may have been formed by marine erosion along the coastline at a time of higher sea level several thousand years ago.
At Little Gorge, south of Normanville, erosion has carved a gully that runs down to the sea within the adjacent resistant metamorphic inlier. Along the coast the same process is regularly repeated at other sites (see photo, right). Creek alluvium, including pebbles and coarse gravels, are shown. They have been deposited upon the terrace or 'bench' formed at a time of higher sea level (shown running southwards near the cliff base).	terrace sediments Photo 2: Little Gorge terrace sediments, at car park Looking south towards Rapid Head in distance (Cape Jervis is around the far headland)
Cape Jervis, the 'end point' of Fleurieu Peninsula, was named by Flinders while exploring along the southern coast of Australia in 1802, on the voyage from England to New South Wales. It was named after Lord St Vincent, Admiral of the Fleet 1797, whose family name was Jervis. The approach to the cape offers a spectacular view across Backstairs Passage (which lies between Cape Jervis and Kangaroo Is) and Investigator Strait (which lies between Kangaroo Is and Yorke Peninsula). Both water bodies were named by Matthew Flinders.	Photo 3: View looking west to Cape Jervis, and across Backstairs Passage (left) and Investigator Strait (right)
The Cape Jervis area contains Permian beds that include glacial till, as well as older Cambrian metamorphic beds near the shore (and at the lighthouse). The relatively flat land near the cape may have been eroded down by the Permian ice mass that scooped out Backstairs Passage (between Cape Jervis and Kangaroo Island). It is believed that ice travelled east to west across most of the Fleurieu Peninsula, moving soil, rocks and boulders on the way. Matthew Flinders was the first European to explore and chart the coastline either side of Cape Jervis. His journal and chart suggests that the name 'Cape Jervis' was to be applied to the entire peninsula, but present usage of this term has confined it to the cape itself. The name 'Fleurieu Peninsula' appeared on Nicolas Baudin's chart, in honour of the Comte de Fleurieu, Charles Claret. However, the name was not used for the peninsula until its official adoption in 1913, after a suggestion by the Royal Geographical Society of SA. Flinders and Baudin met on 8 April, 1802 (see Encounter Bay Info Page).
Kangaroo Island is clearly visible from Cape Jervis across Backstairs Passage. Flinders and his crew enjoyed at least one aspect of their visits there. His journal describes how an abundance of 'kanguroos' brought pleasure to the grateful sailors. Flinders description follows:	Photo 4: eastern side of Kangaroo Island from Cape Jervis
'On landing in the morning we were soon satisfied that some animals which, with glasses, we had seen moving about were kanguroos; numbers of them appearing at the landing place, which was near a place free from brush wood and covered with grass, and seemed to be a favourite feeding spot. It is impossible to form any guess as to the numbers seen during the day, but those brought on board were 31, whose weight was between 69 and 125 lbs each uncleaned; these made a glorious feast to people to who had been 4 months upon salt provisions. I ordered that 50 or 60 lbs should be stewed into soup each day in the ships coppers, and that as much meat besides should be served to the messes as they could eat ... *- Matthew Flinders in Journal* [22 Mar, 1802]**
While the kangaroos of Kangaroo Island were viewed as a tasty food resource by the men of the Investigator, Flinders perceived the pelicans of Kangaroo Island in quite a different manner. This topic forms a question set in the Activities Page. Australian pelican Pelecanus conspicillatus This large bird is found in all parts of Australia, in coastal and inland waters. Pelicans catch fish and crustaceans by dipping their pouched bills into the water, then raising them to allow water to drain out. It is possible that they swim in formation to drive fish into shallow water.	(Photo 5: Kangaroos - photographed in NE NSW) (Photo 6: Pelicans - photographed in SE Qld)
Kangaroo Island - Link to SLSA's Flinders Journal - photo version Kangaroo Island - Link to SLSA's Flinders Journal - text version (Note: text version loads more quickly than photo version) Return to Kangaroo Is - Link to SLSA's Flinders Journal - photo version Return to Kangaroo Is - Link to SLSA's Flinders Journal - text version (Note: text version loads more quickly than photo version)
The indigenous people living here at the time of the Investigator's voyage were the Kaurna. Their lands extended from Mt Lofty to the adjacent coast, and south to Cape Jervis. Much of the present city of Adelaide has been built on this area. Whaling and mining were early European endeavours on the Peninsula, but the resource bases were soon exhausted. The ongoing economic mainstay of the Peninsula has been agriculture, while tourism is steadily gaining in significance. Agricultural pursuits include sheep, dairy, deer, horticulture, grape growing for wines, orchards, and commercial forestry. The peninsula contains a number of Conservation Parks.