Father Julian Tenison Woods and the Hawkesbury Sandstone

Abstract

Tenison Woods' paper "The Hawkesbury Sandstone" presented to the Royal Society of NSW in 1882 bears clear testimony to his considerable stature as a scientist and pioneer Australian geologist. His interpretation of the Hawkesbury Sandstone as a wind-blown formation is supported by his observations of its geometry, lithology, sedimentary structures and fossil content; by comparison with aeolian and other formations in Australia and in various other parts of the world, either through the literature or by personal observation; by experiments he conducted with wind-blown sand, and by personal observation of aeolian processes in the field. Although his interpretation of the origin of the Hawkesbury Sandstone as a whole is not accepted today (he did not have available to him the detailed knowledge we now have of the processes and products of fluvial and other environments) his method was sound and his competence undoubted.