Information for Teachers
There were once twelve quarries near Sleeps Hill. They produced crushed rock that was used for
aggregate and sand in a variety of constructions around Adelaide.
Today the quarries form part of a reserve managed by the Mitcham Council. At several locations,
interpretative signs describe the geology of the area and explain the quarrying operations.
The excursion described in these documents involves two separate walks and does not follow the
whole walking trail. The relevant walks are shown by thick markings on the map on page 4.
A brochure, entitled Sleeps Hill Quarries. A Guide to the Walking Trail, describes various
geological and biological features of the quarries. Greg Drew prepared the document on behalf of
the Department of Mines and Energy.
Copies of this brochure may be purchased for $2 each from the following website:
http://outernode.pir.sa.gov.au/minerals/publications_and_information/brochure
The maps on the following pages show:
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The route to the quarries from Belair
The route from the High Street quarry entrance to the Mead Street entrance.
The layout of the quarries and the walking trails. The proposed excursion covers two short
sections of the walking trail that provide access to views of the significant features of the
Geology and the old workings. In both cases, you need to retrace your steps to the bus.
The trails can be followed in any order.
The Interpretative Signs.
As much as possible of the information on the interpretative signs has been included as an appendix
to this document, so that you can discuss the Geology and history of the quarries, especially
quarrying methods, with the students before the excursion.
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Route from Belair to Sleeps Hill Quarries
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Route from High Street (A) to Mead Street (B)
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Two Walks in the Quarries Reserve
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Relevance of Excursion to the National Curriculum for Year 8
One of the elaborations of the Science Understanding/Earth and space sciences section of the year 8
curriculum states:
‘Recognising that some rocks and minerals provide valuable resources.’
Students will see evidence that a valuable resource has played a significant part in the development
of the Adelaide Metropolitan area.
‘Sedimentary, igneous and metamorphic rocks are formed by processes that occur within the
Earth.’
‘Considering the role of forces and energy in the formation of different types of rocks and
minerals.’
Students will see evidence of the processes involved in formation of sedimentary rocks from
sediments deposited in shallow water; as well as the forces within the Earth that alter sedimentary
rocks to metamorphic rocks.
Why the Location is Geologically Significant
Quarrying activities have exposed rock faces containing folds, faults and ripple marks.
Key Concepts to be covered before the excursion
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Deposition of sediments and formation of sedimentary rocks.
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Effects of pressure and time on existing rocks — formation of quartzite from sandstone
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Folding of rocks by directed pressure, including overturned folds.
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Formation of faults
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Uses of quartzite
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A brief history of the quarries
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Quarrying procedures and preparation of extracted materials.
N.B. Although the information on the signs is intended for the general public, some of the concepts
discussed are quite difficult to understand. I don’t think it is useful to discuss plunging folds
or differences between cleavage and bedding with year 8 students.
Planning the Excursion
Allow about half a day to visit both parts of the quarries.
Visit the site, with this Teacher Information Sheet and the Answers to Student Worksheet
documents prior to the excursion. Be prepared to discuss with the students the features described in
the worksheet, and any other features of geological interest seen on the excursion
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The nearest toilets and shops are in Belair. Students will need to bring their own food and water.
Print the worksheets single-sided and staple them with two staples down the side to make a booklet.
This gives students extra space next to each page to include any information or diagrams that they
cannot fit into the spaces provided with the questions.
Emphasise the importance of the Rules for Students, which are also included in the student
worksheets.
Hand the worksheets out in the classroom when you are discussing the excursion with them and
emphasise their importance. Collect them at the end of the lesson and hand them out again at the
beginning of the excursion.
Safety and Ethical Considerations
Carry a small first aid kit with you on the excursion.
If the students use geological hammers to collect rock samples, they must wear safety goggles.
Make sure the students do not leave any litter.
Keep the students away from any unfenced cliffs
Everyone must keep to the defined walking trails.
Safety Rules (also included in the student worksheet)
Wear a hat and sturdy shoes and apply sunscreen even during winter months.
Carry drinking water.
Carry sufficient food.
Weather conditions can change quickly. Ensure that you wear and bring appropriate clothing.
Keep to the paths
Stay with the group, or you may get lost.
Note that there are no toilets at the site.
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APPENDIX
Information Provided by the Interpretative Signs.
This appendix contains most of the geological information provided by the interpretative signs
throughout the park. Year 8 students should not be expected to understand all the geological
concepts discussed on these signs.
The photographs from the signs are not always clear, partly because they were copies on a sunny
day and leaves caused mottled light and shade.
From the High Street entrance to the Reserve
SLEEPS HILL QUARRIES
HISTORY
Quarries were opened in this valley by A.H. Birt in 1916 and were taken over by Adelaide Quarries
Ltd in 1919. During the 1920s, the quarries were ne of the leading producers of crushed rock in
South Australia and employed up to 100 men. The rock was sued as aggregate and sand for a
variety of construction purposes.
After 1930, the Depression seriously curtailed operations and only a few men were employed.
Quarrying ceased about 1950. The area is now a reserve under the control of the City of MItcham.
The valley behind you contained the SA Railways quarries, which operated from the 1880s, initially
supplying stone for the railway through the Adelaide Hills.
THE TRAIL
The trail is a walk of about 2.5km with several steep sections. Along the trail, signs illustrate
geological features and how the rock was quarried and treated. Large-scale folds in quartzite reflect
the intensity of the forces which deformed the rocks almost 500 million years ago. Features of the
flora and fauna are also shown.
QUARRIES
Twelve quarries were developed in two separate beds of quartzite which crop out on both sides of
the valley. The lower outcrops were first exploited and operations gradually mover eastwards and
higher up the valley.
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Quarrying methods were both labour intensive and dangerous; four men were killed in accidents
here. Rock faces were blasted with dynamite ant the broken stone was loaded into rail trucks and
delivered to the crushing plant.
Crushing Plant c. 1940
S.A. Railways Quarry c. 1910
GEOLOGY
Rocks in this area are about 750 million years old and consist of two separate thick beds of quartzite
— the upper and lower quartzites within a sequence of slate.
Features within the rocks indicate that they were deposited a sand and silt in a shallow-water
environment, such as a delta or along a coastline. Bedding faces preserve spectacular ripple marks
in Quarries G and L2.
About 500 to 450 million years ago, the rocks were complexly folded and faulted during a period of
mountain building. At the same time, the original sediments were converted to quartzite and slate.
During the following 400 million years, extensive erosion produced a flat landscape (peneplain).
About 50 million years ago, faults which had developed during the during the period of mountain
building, became active again and the Sleeps Hill area was uplifted on one of the blocks which
make up the present Mount Lofty Ranges. At that time the Adelaide Plains area became a basin
where sediments accumulated.
About 2 million years ago, further uplift occurred, resulting in a period of erosion, which has
continued to the present.
CROSS-SECTION
The cross-section shows the overall pattern of folding in the quartzite beds, as viewed from this
point (location 3). Individual folds can be seen in the various quarries.
The beds have been folded into a series of anticlines (arches) and synclines (troughs). The folds are
termed overturned because their axes dip to the east.
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The folds also plunge to the southwest into the adjacent hill. As a result, the overburden on top of
the quartzite increased in thickness as quarrying progressed into the hill. Eventually, the overburden
became too thick for economic quarrying.
Folding patterns
QUARRY J
This quarry commenced in 1925 and was developed in the upper quartzite, which has been folded
into an overturned anticline. The fold plunges to the south across the valley where the quartzite was
worked in Quarries A and C.
Quarry J was opened up to extract quartzite from the steep overturned part of the fold, leaving slate
to the right and shallowly dipping quartzite between slate on the other fold limb to the left. The fold
is best seen from the northern viewpoint.
Revegetation of quarry faces has occurred since quarrying ceased in 1950. Small pockets of soil
caught in rock crevasses provide niches for grasses and small herbs to grow. Larger plants such as
native hopbush and twiggy daisy colonised soil on larger ledges. On the sheltered moister south and
on eastern facing slopes, a few golden wattles and grey boxes have found a foothold. The
aggressive pest plants, boneseed and olive, occur throughout the quarry.
The diagram below shows the overturned folding of the rocks of Quarry J, while the sepia
photograph shows areas of quartzite and slate in the quarry face and uses pale blue lines to interpret
the folding of the two quartzite layers.
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Locations of Slate and Quartzite in Quarry J
From the Mead Street Entrance to the Reserve
CRUSHING PLANT
Two crushing plants, erected in the 1920s on either side of the valley, were connected by a siding to
the railway. These concrete foundations are the remains of the larger plant. The crushed rock was
used in road making, concrete and building work, paths and bitumen.
Broken stone from the quarries was dumped into a storage bin and fed by gravity into a primary jaw
crusher. The material was elevated to screens, where it was graded and deposited into a bin divided
into compartments for the various sizes.
Crushed material from the northern plant was carries to the storage bin by a conveyor belt
supported on a trestle framework. All power was supplied by electric motors. Workshops for
blacksmithing and fitting and two compressors, which supplied air via pipelines for rock drills at
the quarries were located nearby.
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Official Inspector of Mines and Quarries reports indicate that safety standards in the plant were far
removed from those of today. A mill hand was killed in a fall from the plant in 1932.
‘At the Crushing Mill the conditions respecting dust were unsatisfactory, and Messrs Gillick (Works
Manger) and Gunter (Mill Foreman) were informed that al large proportion of the dust must be
suppressed or action would be taken to secure observance of the Regulations. The officers
mentioned were also instructed that guard rails must be provided to the main driving belt and main
shafting.
J. L. Pearson, 16 March 1925
The plant generally was in a satisfactory condition. The working parts appear to be protected as far
as possible against accident, but out of 7 motors driving the various sections of the works only 3
are properly earthed, and at the winch on G quarry tramway the brake lever comes in contact with
the switch box controlling the motor.
H.S. Cornelius, 6 September 1927
A view
of the Sleeps Hill Quarries from the main railway line. The two crushing plants can be
seen on either side of the valley. Note the incline in the middle background
QUARRY METHODS
After faces had been brought down by blasting and large rocks reduced by drilling and further
blasting, the rock was broken manually to handling size. The stone was loaded inth side-tipping rail
trucks of 2.5ton capacity and delivered to a storage bin above the crushing plant.
Stone from higher quarries (L1 and L2) was dumped from the trucks into a bin and reloaded into 6
ton trucks operated on and incline track. A full truck, gravitating to the crushing plant, was used to
haul and empty truck back up the incline to the quarry be means of a wire rope. The speed was
controlled by brakes on the pulley wheels around which the rope passed.
A flying fox was installed in 1924 to handle large blocks of stone in Quarry D for use in
breakwaters. An employee was killed when a 4ton rock fell from the flying fox in 1924.
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Breaking and Loading Stone into Rail Trucks
Rock falls were a serious problem in quarries with very high sheer faces. The following account
from an Inspector of Mines reports concerns an accident which occurred in this quarry.
‘A serious accident occurs on November 20th to an employee named George Lines.
Lines, with his mage, F. Roberts, was loading the broken rock to a truck when a small quantity of
material slipped from the face above, bounced from a bench near the bottom, and one stone about 7
or 8 lbs weight struck Lines on the left leg, breaking the bone near the body. Both men were in a
stooping position and did not see or hear the stuff fall until it struck the bench. The face of this
particular place is about 100 feet high.
H. S Cornelius, 27 November 1928
QUARRY D
Quarry D was developed in the lower quartzite which has been folded into an overturned anticline.
The quartzite on the eastern side of the fold is almost horizontal, but on the western side it is
overturned and dips steeply to the east.
The slate outcrop just to your right shows two rock structures, bedding and cleavage. Bedding
traces indicate the orientation of the original layers of sediment. Cleavage is a rock weakness which
develops during folding.
Overburden from the quarry has built up the side of the valley covering the native vegetation. Most
of the plants now growing on the overburden are weeds, the most dominant being olive, boneseed,
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dog rose and salvation jane.
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The Fold in Quarry D
Cleavage and Bedding, Quarry D
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Information for Teachers