Cape Gantheaume
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Cape Gantheaume South Australia |
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 Cape Gantheaume
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| Coordinates | 36°4′29.352″S 137°27′38.8074″E / 36.07482000°S 137.460779833°ECoordinates: 36°4′29.352″S 137°27′38.8074″E / 36.07482000°S 137.460779833°E |
| Elevation | 46 m (151 ft) |
| LGA(s) | Kangaroo Island Council |
Cape Gantheaume is a headland located on the south coast of Kangaroo Island in South Australia. It was named after Vice admiral Honoré Joseph Antoine Ganteaume (1755-1818) by the Baudin expedition to Australia during 1803. It is currently located within the protected area known as the Cape Gantheaume Wilderness Protection Area.
Cape Gantheaume is the most southerly point on the south coast of Kangaroo Island. It is the termination for a pair of cliffed coastlines - one extending from Vivonne Bay in the north west and the other extending from D'Estrees Bay in the north east. Its cliff top is 46 metres (151 feet) above sea level. When viewed from the south on a platform such as a ship, the cape is reported as being ‘steep on its W(est) side and sloping on its E(ast) side.’
Cape Gantheaume was formed when the sea reached its present level 7,500 years ago after sea levels started to rise at the start of the Holocene. The cliff line which includes Cape Gantheaume consists of a metamorphic rock belonging to the Kanmantoo group bedrock called Middleton Sandstone. The cliff at Cape Gantheaume is described as having ‘spectacular re-entrants’ due to the ‘differential weathering of near vertical basic dykes.’ The water adjoining Cape Gantheaume drops to a depth of 50 metres (160 feet) within 4 nautical miles (7.4 km; 4.6 mi) of the coastline. In addition to wave-cut platforms along its west and east sides, a reef extends about 0.75 nautical miles (1.39 km; 0.86 mi) in a west south-west direction from the cape.
A coastal heath occupies the cliff top from Cape Gantheaume eastward to D'Estrees Bay for a distance from 200 metres (660 feet) to 700 metres (2,300 feet) inland from the cliff edge. The heath has a cover of 70 to 80% with exception of the immediate cliff edge and grows on soils varying from shallow sand to sheet limestone where plants will form mats over the bare rock surface. The heath does not exceed 1 metre (3 feet 3 inches) in height with the exception of hollows sheltered from the prevailing weather. As of 1977, the main species found in the heath were Acaena anserinifolia, Acrotriche patula, Bitter bush, Goodenia varia, Phyllota pleurandroides, Lasiopetalum discolour, Lasiopetalum schultzenii, Logania crassifolia and Muehlenbeckia adpressa.
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