University of Newcastle Callahan Campus road cut

3D Model

The University of Newcastle’s Callaghan Campus is situated in western Newcastle. The campus is built on Permian rocks of the Tomago Coal Measures. Outcrops of these rocks can be seen on the topographically higher points of the campus. One of the best spots to observe them is in the Inner City Bypass road cut near the Earth Sciences building. The hill on the far side of this cutting is capped by the Waratah Sandstone, but on the near side, the Shortland Formation can be observed in between the concrete supports. This formation forms the uppermost part of the Tomago Coal Measures, whereas the Waratah Sandstone forms the base of the overlying Newcastle Coal Measures. The rocks in this upward change record a fall in relative sea level at the time the rocks were being deposited. The Shortland Formation is a shallow marine deposit of shales with occasional dropstones (rocks dropped from melting icebergs), whereas the Waratah Sandstone was deposited in a shoreline setting.

Compass is 12 centimetres long.