Mt Cannibal rocks

The title of this post should be Mt Cannibal’s rocks.

The rocks in Mt Cannibal Flora and Fauna Reserve at Garfield North chiefly consist of 350 million year-old ‘Tynong Granite’. They occur in outcrops of large slabs and massive boulders. Some are beautifully shaped by various agents of erosion.

Others have inclusion bands of other minerals.

Many are split in half by mechanical weathering.

Some show evidence of exfoliation of their outer layers by eons of expansion and contraction.

Rocky outcrops provide niche micro-climates for a diverse array of flora, fauna and fungi.

Many rocks on Mt Cannibal have their own vegetation patterns called rock outcrop complex. A large number of plants and ecological vegetation and animal communities are associated with rock outcrops.

Mt Cannibal’s rocks make a considerable contribution to the biodiversity of the reserve. Mt Cannibal does indeed rock!