The rocks exposed along the shore off the Karingal Steps (Taroona) are from ancient land-slip sequences, formed when Tasmania was pulled apart from the Antarctic portion of Gondwana, about 60-40 million years ago (Mya : early Tertiary Period).
Conglomeratic layers alternate with course sandstones – representing differing phases of earthquake-initiated landslides, over tens of millions of years. The rock sequence continues offshore, where the ridges of harder rock form Dixons Reef.
Fragments of carbonised plant material occur in the finer sandstones - indicating their formation in a terrestrial setting (lakes, rivers). Fossils of turtles, ancestors of today’s Murray River turtles, have been found in the sandstones near the High School boat locker.. Read more about this in the end of Chapter 1 of The Taroona Book ⇒
p.12 - p.20 Geology by Simon Stephens.pdf
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