Mount Schank erupted about 5,000 years ago.
“Has Australia got volcanoes?”
“Yeah, we’ve climbed one that died millions of years ago.”
“I know what it is. It’s Ngungun.”
The continent of Australia has volcanoes but they are either dormant or extinct. There have been no volcanic eruptions since European settlement in 1788. However, there are reports of volcano eruptions that have been passed along by generations of Aborigines.
One such tale is that of Lake Eacham (originally Yidyam or Wiinggina) on the Atherton Tableland of north Queensland.
“Two young fellas were trying to spear that wallaby. But they missed and hit a flame tree. That’s a sacred tree. The young fellas not supposed to be out hunting. They weren’t initiated. Their elders told them to stay put, not go out hunting. But they didn’t listen. When they pulled their spear out, part of a grub came out with the spear, which was a witchetty grub. They started cutting down that tree to get more grubs. When they cut down that tree, the ground began to shake. Those two fellas had made Yamini (rainbow serpent) angry. Then the sky turned orange, then all these people back at the camp, the earth went from underneath them, sucked them in, whoosh, they all got drowned. Where they were camped became Bana Wiingina (Lake Eacham).” (Warren Cannendo, Ngadjon-Jii)
This story does a great job of describing what really happened around 9,000 years ago. Molten magma rose from deep in the Earth and heated the water table, creating an enormous amount of steam. The result was an explosion that devastated the surrounding area, leaving a crater that filled up with water.
If you’re looking for the youngest volcanoes on the Australian mainland, then look no further than the Newer Volcanics Province. Situated in Victoria and Tasmania, it features 400 vents across a 15,000 square kilometre area (6,000 square miles). The most recent eruptions happened about 5000 years ago at Mount Schank and Mount Gambier. It is believed these volcanoes are dormant, meaning they may still erupt in the future.
But, away from the Australian mainland, there is an active volcano. Mawson Peak is an active volcanic mountain on Heard Island, an external Australian territory in the Southern Ocean. It rises to a height of 2,745 metres (9,006 feet) above sea level. It last erupted in 2016. Good luck getting there. It is one of the most remote places on Earth. Heard Island is uninhabited, cold, and wet.
