Oct 24, 2021

Tessellated Pavement

Updated: May 3

Tessellated Pavement

The Tessellated Pavement is located on the Tasman Peninsula, an area of land southeast of Tasmania surrounded by beautiful bays and the ocean.

The Peninsula has Storm Bay in the west and south, the Tasman Sea out to the east, and Norfolk Bay and Frederick Henry Bay to the north and northwest.

Tessellated pavement is extremely rare. This natural phenomenon is only found in a few places on Earth where rocks have fractured into polygonal blocks and appear just like man-made tiles.

The most well-known example of tessellated pavement is the Tessellated Pavement at Eaglehawk Neck on the Tasman Peninsula. This example consists of two types of formations: a pan formation and a loaf formation.

The pan formation is a series of concave depressions in the rock that typically forms beyond the seashore's edge. This part of the pavement dries out more at low tide than the portion abutting the seashore, allowing salt crystals to develop further; the surface of the "pans" erodes more quickly than the joints resulting in increasing concavity.

The loaf formations occur on the parts of the pavement closer to the seashore, which is immersed in water for extended periods. These parts of the pavement do not dry out so much, reducing the level of salt crystallisation. Water, carrying abrasive sand, is typically channelled through the joints, causing them to erode faster than the rest of the pavement, leaving loaf-like structures protruding.

The Tessellated Pavement is best viewed at low tide.

Directions

From Hobart, head east along the Tasman Highway past the airport, then turn right onto the Arthur Highway at Sorell. Continue along the highway down through the Forester Peninsula until Eaglehawk Neck.

Eaglehawk Neck is the isthmus that connects the Tasman Peninsula near the town of Dunalley and is the gateway to the Tasman Peninsula.