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RST Apology to Tasmanian Aboriginal people 2021.

Cambrian stratigraphy of the St. Valentines Peak area, north-western Tasmania

Papers & Reports

Summary

An important Late Middle Cambrian fossil locality occurs 2 km west of St. Valentines Peak in north-western Tasmania. The Cambrian rocks to the north and west of St. Valentines Peak are exposed in the core of the north-south trending St. Valentines Peak Anticline. In the best exposed section (3 km north of the main fossil
locality), the oldest Cambrian unit is a massive, cherty, pyritic meta-sandstone and meta-siltstone at least 100 m thick. This is overlain by 100 m of rhyolitic welded tuff, 75 to 100 m of meta-sandstones and meta-siltstones, 100 m of a possible contact metasomatic rock and 230 to 375 m of a pale grey chert which in turn is overlain by about 17 m of fine breccia and poorly fossiliferous siltstone. This sequence is overlain with probable disconformity by the basal chert conglomerate of the essentially Ordovician Junee Group. It is suggested that the sediments of the main fossiliferous locality occur stratigraphically below the section noted above. The Cambrian and Ordovician rocks are intruded by Devonian granite and partly overlain by Tertiary basalt.

Acknowledgement of Country

The Royal Society of Tasmania acknowledges, with deep respect, the traditional owners of this land, and the ongoing custodianship of the Aboriginal people of Tasmania. The Society pays respect to Elders past, present and emerging. We acknowledge that Tasmanian Aboriginal Peoples have survived severe and unjust impacts resulting from invasion and dispossession of their Country. As an institution dedicated to the advancement of knowledge, the Royal Society of Tasmania recognises Aboriginal cultural knowledge and practices and seeks to respect and honour these traditions and the deep understanding they represent.

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On 15 February 2021, the Royal Society of Tasmania offered a formal Apology to the Tasmanian Aboriginal people.