Атертонское нагорье: геология, вулканизм и история коренных народов.

Fertile plateau in northern Queensland, Australia

This area is a distinct physiographic section of the larger North Queensland Highlands province, which in turn is part of the larger East Australian Cordillera physiographic division. South of the Tablelands is the Bellenden Ker Range.

Around 100 million years ago, the eastern edge of the Australian continent extended much further to the east, before tectonic forces fractured the eastern margin, pulling it apart. At the same time, slowly rising mantle material caused a doming up of the continental crust. As the eastern part of the continent broke away, it gradually sank below sea level. Since that time, the uplifted western portion has been slowly eroding westwards, creating the abrupt Great Escarpment, which separates the coastal plain to the east from the uplifted tablelands to the west. Between 4 million to less than 10,000 years ago, a series of volcanic eruptions occurred over the Atherton Tablelands. The oldest eruptions created large, gently sloping “shield volcanoes” that produced extensive basalt flows. These flows filled the pre existing valleys, producing a relatively flat tableland surface, instead of the more dissected landscape that existed previously. Around one million years ago, the style of eruption changed. The lavas became more gas charged, throwing fragmented lava into the air which built the numerous, small scoria cones, such as the Seven Sisters, near Yungaburra. Some of the rising magma interacted with groundwater, producing violent eruptions that led to the formation of maar volcanoes, such as Lake Eacham and Lake Barrine. Although all the volcanoes in the Atherton Basalt Province are regarded as being extinct and volcanism has been waning over time, given the relatively recent activity, it is possible that further eruptions could occur in the future.

The Atherton Tableland has a long history of Indigenous occupation. Aspects of traditional Aboriginal land use and culture have been documented from the period of first contact to present. Aboriginal people with ties to the region seek to maintain their culture today, despite a long period of forced removal from their lands following European occupation in the late 19th early 20th century. Yidinji (also known as Yidinj, Yidiny, and Idindji) is a local Australian Aboriginal language. Its traditional region is within the local government areas of Cairns Region and Tablelands Region, in such localities as Cairns, Gordonvale, and the Mulgrave River, and the southern part of the Atherton Tableland including Atherton and Kairi. Dyirbal (also known as Djirbal) is a language of Far North Queensland, particularly the area around Tully and Tully River Catchment extending to the Atherton Tablelands. The Dyirbal language region includes the landscape within the local government boundaries of Cassowary Coast Regional Council and Tablelands Regional Council. The first European exploration of this area, was undertaken in 1875 by James Venture Mulligan. Mulligan and his party were led by Aboriginal guides. Many soldiers were interred at the war cemetery in Atherton. In addition to mining and timber, the Chinese population took up agriculture. As the community grew they also built a temple to worship at, the Hou Wang Temple. Crops grown in and around Atherton include banana, sugarcane, corn/maize, avocados, strawberries, macadamia nuts and mangoes and citrus. Tobacco was also grown Dairying, grazing and poultry are also present on the Tableland. The deregulation of the dairy industry in 2000 is blamed for the decline. Twelve species of birds are endemic to this area and the mountain ranges immediately south: Atherton scrubwren, Bower's shrikethrush, bridled honeyeater, chowchilla, fernwren, golden bowerbird, grey headed robin, Macleay's honeyeater, mountain thornbill, pied monarch, tooth billed bowerbird and Victoria's riflebird.