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Heritage Place Details

LOCATION
Map Show Map
Address STUARTS CREEK
Locality
Accuracy H - high level confidence
Council Area Land Not Within a Council Area (Far North)
Polygon Type S - parcel that has been split (because it has more than one heritage item on it
DESCRIPTION
Details (Known As) Tertiary Silcrete Flora, Stuarts Creek [Designated as a place of palaeontological significance]
Registered Name Tertiary Silcrete Flora, Stuarts Creek
Significance The exceptionally well preserved Tertiary fossil flora occurring in outcrops of silicified sandstones is the largest and best-documented Tertiary flora locality in inland Australia and is also one of the richest and most extensive localities of its type in the world. The fossil macroflora comprises abundant fruit and leaves (including 142 different types of fossil leaves and 50 fruit and seed types) which provides valuable information on the distribution of eucalypts and other Australian flora that existed during the Tertiary Period between 1.8 and 24 million years ago. Of particular significance is the presence of a variety of readily identifiable gumnuts (Eucalyptus spp.), important for understanding the evolution of this very dominant Australian genus. By correlation of these sediments with Tertiary sequences elsewhere in Australia, eucalyptus fossils can be placed in a stratigraphic context for the first time. The place is also a key site in understanding the climate, geology and sedimentology of inland Australia, both during the Tertiary Period and more recently. Much of the fossil flora found here provides evidence of a previously wetter climate in what is now arid Australia. (Adapted from RNE database id=103840) STATEMENT OF PALAEONTOLOGICAL DESIGNATION Designation date: 17 AUGUST 2023 The Tertiary Silcrete Flora, Stuarts Creek fossil site is one of the most significant plant fossil sites in South Australia. Regarded for its complexity and unique fossil assemblage, the site contains an abundance of exceptionally preserved plant remains. Tertiary Silcrete Flora, Stuarts Creek's proposed Miocene-Pliocene age makes it younger than nearby fossil sites, placing it in a transitional period in Australia's environmental history. The site depicts a unique transition from an earlier rainforest-like climate to arid climates seen today. Tertiary Silcrete Flora, Stuarts Creek provides the best record of this environmental transition within the State and perhaps Australia. The Tertiary Silcrete Flora, Stuarts Creek site contains a distinctive, diverse and uncommon range of fossil flora, with both tropical/monsoonal rainforest and arid-adapted flora found within the same site, notably arid-adapted Eucalyptus and Banksia species and the rainforest/monsoonal flora, Gymnostoma and Brachychiton that are abundant, well-preserved and uncommon in similarly aged sites. Imprints of Eucalyptus fruits found at Tertiary Silcrete Flora, Stuarts Creek have enabled stratigraphic correlation of the site with other Tertiary deposits from around the world. The fossil Banksia population provides valuable evidence of the species' evolution, including linking ancient, interconnected Banksia populations throughout Central, South-Western and South-Eastern Australia that are currently fragmented. Particularly important is the discovery and identification of Banskieaeformis langii that resembles modern Banksia much more than older, Tertiary examples. The majority of the fossil plant species present in the site are at present unidentified and much research remains to be done on these fossils.
Subject Index Landscape area - Palaeontological Site
Class State
STATUS
Status Code REG - Confirmed as a State Heritage Place in the SA Heritage Register
Status Date 04-MAR-1993
REFERENCE
LGA Unincorporated SA
State Heritage ID 14419
Heritage Number 21
SECTION 16 INFORMATION
Section 16
PLAN PARCEL & TITLE
As listed in the SA Heritage Register
Plan Parcel & Title Information CL 6166/902 D54705 A33

Disclaimer

While due care has been taken to ensure that the SA Heritage Places Database accurately reflects the South Australian Heritage Register and listings of Local Heritage Places in Council areas, the State of South Australia does not accept liability for the use of the SA Heritage Database for any purpose. Users should consult the Department for Environment and Water - Heritage South Australia to confirm the listing of State Heritage Places and the Planning and Design Code or their local council for Local Heritage Places.

In the majority of cases, the maps of State Heritage Places on this web site show the footprints of the most significant structures on a registered Place. However, sometimes they simply indicate the complete area of land comprising the Place. Work is proceeding to further refine the mapping of such places. It is also important to note that development control is not limited to the registered structures but extends to their setting and structures nearby (what is termed ‘development affecting’ a State Heritage Place). Hence it is vital that exact details of the listed place and implications for any proposed development be discussed with Heritage South Australia staff, as they cannot be deduced solely from the information on this web site. The inclusion of a place in the SA Heritage Register gives no right of public access. Permission to visit properties must be sought from the owners. The accuracy of the mapping of State Heritage Places is not guaranteed. Please contact Heritage SA ( https://www.environment.sa.gov.au/topics/heritage/sa-heritage-register) if you believe there is an error.


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