Organ Pipes National Park

This article is about the national park in Australia. For the national park in the U.S., see Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument.

Organ Pipes National Park
Victoria
Organ Pipes geological feature.
Organ Pipes National Park is located in Victoria
Organ Pipes National Park
Organ Pipes National Park
Nearest town or cityMelbourne
Coordinates37°40′07″S 144°46′02″E / 37.66861°S 144.76722°E / -37.66861; 144.76722
Established12 March 1972 (1972-03-12)[1]
Area1.21 km2 (0.5 sq mi)[1]
Visitation50,000 (in 1996–7)[1]
Managing authoritiesParks Victoria
WebsiteOrgan Pipes National Park
See alsoProtected areas of Victoria

The Organ Pipes National Park, abbreviated as OPNP,[2] is a national park located in the Central region of Victoria, Australia. The 121-hectare (300-acre) protected area was established with the focus on conservation of the native flora and fauna, and preservation of the geological features in the Jacksons Creek, a part of the Maribyrnong valley, north-west of Melbourne.[1][3] It is situated in a deep gorge in the grassy, basalt Keilor Plains.[4]

Within Organ Pipes National Park, the valley walls of Jacksons Creek expose Pleistocene volcanic rocks of the New Volcanic Group. These 2.5 to 2.8 million year-old basalt lavas, commonly known as trap rock, fractured during cooling into vertically standing, hexagonal basalt columns. These columns are locally known as the "organ pipes" for which this park is named. Over the last one to two million years, the slow cutting by Jackson Creek of its valley down into the basaltic plains and through the underlying trap rock exposed these geological structures. The bottom of the valley of Jackson Creek also exposes a prehistoric buried creek valley, which is cut into 400 million year-old (Silurian) mudstones and sandstones. The bottom of this buried valley contains ancient creek gravel. Both the ancient river valley and the Silurian sedimentary rock lies buried beneath the basaltic volcanic rocks of the New Volcanic Group. Marine fossils found in the Silurian sedimentary rocks demonstrate that they accumulated beneath a prehistoric ocean.[5][6][7]

A Friends' group, (the first in Australia) the "Friends of Organ Pipes" (FOOPS), comprising conservation activists to support the efforts of rehabilitation of the OPNP's indigenous flora and fauna, supplemented the work of the Victoria Park system under which the OPNP was declared a National Park.[1] The park's importance to the whole region as a "center for education about the geology, flora and fauna of the Keilor Plains, and the restoration of degraded land" is important. With its inclusion in the IUCN Category III (Natural Monuments) of the United Nations' list of National Parks and Protected Areas, there is a greater recognition of the need to protect or preserve outstanding natural features.[1]

  1. ^ a b c d e f Organ Pipes National Park Management Plan (PDF). Kew, Vic.: Government of Victoria. February 1998. ISBN 0-7306-6703-0. Archived from the original (PDF) on 1 March 2011. Retrieved 26 January 2011. {{cite book}}: |work= ignored (help)
  2. ^ Entomological Society of Queensland (2000). The Australian entomologist. The Entomological Society of Queensland. p. 106. Retrieved 27 January 2011.
  3. ^ Organ Pipes National Park, a guide for teachers and visitors. Department of Conservation & Environment. 1992. ISBN 0-7306-2635-0. Archived from the original on 12 October 2012. Retrieved 25 January 2011.
  4. ^ "Organ Pipes National Park" (PDF). Parks Victoria (PDF). Government of Victoria. Archived from the original (PDF) on 13 May 2014. Retrieved 23 June 2013.
  5. ^ Mitchell, M. (2009). "Urban Geology and Geomorphology of the City and Suburbs of Melbourne: A Mid-IAG Conference Field Trip". Quaternary Australasia. 26 (2): 23–25.
  6. ^ "Organ Pipes National Park". Parks Victoria. Government of Victoria. Archived from the original on 15 December 2010. Retrieved 9 January 2011.
  7. ^ Cite error: The named reference Pipes was invoked but never defined (see the help page).