For Rickard - Vale - 25th November 1969 - 7th September 2023.
He always wanted to hide an EC here but never got around to it.
COMING TOGETHER is a 2013 sculpture by artist, Stephen Newton that acknowledges the aboriginal people, early settlers and the military that have occupied this site.
This large sculpture has been created from two different types of granite, and it's form takes on a clean, symmetrical shape.There is strong contrast between the rugged textured exterior and the highly polished interior. The joining of the two pieces of granite creates an empty void in the shape of a human form, and public interaction is encouraged as the work emits a soundscape of spoken word stories and recorded sounds from first nations, military and early settler histories.
Granite is a coarse or medium-grained intrusive igneous rock. It is the most common plutonic rock of the Earth’s crust, formed by the cooling of magma (silicate melt) at depth.
It is made up of primarily quartz, feldspar, micas, amphiboles, and a mixture of additional trace minerals. These minerals and their variation in abundance and alteration give granite the numerous colors and textures we see in nature or when used in monuments (such as GZ), headstones, building, flooring and countertops.
There are many types of granite. The type of granite a particular specimen is, depends upon the percentages of minerals that make up the rock, especially quartz (Greyish colour), K-feldspar (Redish colour), Na-feldspar (White) and Biotite (Black).
A xenolith is the coming together of two rocks - A piece of rock trapped in another type of rock. Most of the time, a xenolith is a rock embedded in magma while the magma was cooling.
Xenoliths are torn from deep cracks, or pipes, in the Earths surface. Magma rises to the Earths surface through these pipes between the Earths crust and mantle. As the molten material rises, it tears off bits and pieces of the magma pipe in which it is traveling. These bits and pieces, trapped in the magma but not melting into it, become xenoliths.
LOGGING REQUIREMENTS
1. What mineral do you think makes up the highest percentage of granite on the North Eastern (uphill) and South Western (downhill) blocks?
2. Look around, in the distance do you see any examples of these minerals occurring naturally? Where?
3. In which block (North Eastern (uphill) and South Western (downhill)) can you find examples of Xenoliths?
4. Describe the shape and size of the Xenoliths you find. Are they easier to identify in the polished or rough surface?
5. Take a photo of yourself or something that identifies you at the sculpture's plaque (on the ground - not with the sculpture itself) to prove your visit.
You may log a find immediately but your answers must be provided within 7 days otherwise your log may be deleted.