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Cape Moreton is a rocky headland at the north eastern tip of Moreton Island in South East Queensland, Australia. The surrounding area is part of the Moreton Island National Park. Flinders Reef is Template:Convert north-west of Cape Moreton.

The outcrop is mostly composed of sandstone, but also some conglomerate, siltstone and shale.<ref name="imb">Template:Cite book</ref> The sand dunes of Moreton Island were formed by sand caught on and built up behind these rocks, in a process that began at least 500,000 years ago.<ref name="svo">Template:Cite journal</ref>

HistoryEdit

On the 17 May 1770, James Cook sighted and named the point Cape Morton. By 1959 the island's second settlement begin at Cape Moreton. At one point a school was operating at Cape Moreton with a total of 15 children.<ref name="imb"/> Until 1952 when it was abandoned, a telegraph line reached the point, via Amity on North Stradbroke Island.<ref name="imb"/>

On 24 February 1894, the Aarhus sank about two nautical miles from the cape after striking Smith's Rocks. The hospital ship Centaur was sunk close to Cape Moreton in 1943 when a Japanese submarine torpedoed the ship, taking the lives of 268 people. The wreck was found on the 20 December 2009 in a steep walled gulley, 2,059 m below the ocean surface.

The MV Pacific Adventurer lost containers in high seas created by Cyclone Hamish and caused the 2009 southeast Queensland oil spill. The containers were located after a 10-day search, about Template:Convert off the coast of Cape Moreton.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

LighthouseEdit

File:Cape Moreton Light aerial.jpg
An aerial view of the lightstation

{{#invoke:Labelled list hatnote|labelledList|Main article|Main articles|Main page|Main pages}} Cape Moreton Light was the first lighthouse established in Queensland. The Template:Convert tall structure was constructed of locally quarried sandstone, and was built in 1857.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> 35 "good conduct" prisoners were used for labour.<ref name="imb"/>

A pilot station was established at Bulwer on the northern end of the island in 1848.<ref name="imb"/> At one time there was a total of seven lighthouses in operation on the island.<ref name="imb"/>

Cape Moreton Lighthouse Complex, consisting of the lighthouse, three keepers' cottages and associated structures, was registered on the Register of the National Estate in 1981.<ref>Template:Cite AHD </ref>

See alsoEdit

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ReferencesEdit

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External linksEdit

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