Mount Leura

Mount Leura
Mount Leura
	Mount Leura Camperdown
Highest point
Prominence	130 m (430 ft)
Coordinates	38°14′44″S 143°09′29″E / 38.24556°S 143.15806°E
Geography
Location	Camperdown
Geology
Volcanic field	Leura Maar
Last eruption	Between 5000 and 20,000 years ago

Mount Leura is a 313-metre

inactive volcano

is thought to have last erupted between 5,000 and 20,000 years ago. The name means "big nose" in local aboriginal dialect.

Leura Maar

Mount Leura, together with nearby Mount Sugarloaf, forms part of a large extinct volcanic complex known as the "Leura Maar".

symmetrical, conical mound of volcanic ash

, scoria and larger blocks and bombs.

Mining

Numerous quarries operated within the "Leura Maar". Quarries also provide significant exposures of bedding in tuff and scoria and many

xenoliths

are obtained from these. The scoria at Mount Leura is notable for the inclusions of high temperature megacrusts and xenoliths (fragments of the lower crust and mantle of the earth) which occur here in unusually high concentrations. Most of the quarries now are closed and some are used for dumping landfill.

The volcano lies within the 'Lakes and Craters' region, an access road was built in 1932. It allows vehicles the size of buses to access the lookout on top of Mount Leura. On a clear day you can see the

Chinook Salmon fishing.^[4]

Hillclimb

Mount Leura has hosted the Australian Hillclimb Championship twice, 1985 and 1997. The access road to the summit is closed for the competition. The Australian Hillclimb Championship has been sanctioned by the

Confederation of Australian Motor Sport since 1954.^[5] Prior to this it was sanctioned by the Australian Automobile Association,^[6]

with two events having national championship status in 1949.