Editing Tasmania (section)

===Physical history===
{{Main|Geology of Tasmania}}
[[File:Tessellated Pavement Sunrise Landscape.jpg|thumb|[[Tessellated pavement]], a rare rock formation on the [[Tasman Peninsula]]]]
The island was adjoined to the mainland of Australia until the end of the [[last glacial period]] about 11,700 years ago.<ref name="nma2"/> Much of the island is composed of [[Jurassic]] [[Diabase|dolerite]] intrusions (the upwelling of [[magma]]) through other rock types, sometimes forming large columnar joints. Tasmania has the world's largest areas of dolerite, with many distinctive mountains and cliffs formed from this rock type. The [[Central Plateau (Tasmania)|central plateau]] and the southeast portions of the island are mostly dolerites. [[Mount Wellington (Tasmania)|Mount Wellington]] above [[Hobart]] is a good example, showing distinct columns known as the Organ Pipes.

In the southern midlands as far south as Hobart, the dolerite is underlaid by [[sandstone]] and similar sedimentary stones. In the southwest, [[Precambrian]] [[quartzite]]s were formed from very ancient sea sediments and form strikingly sharp ridges and ranges, such as Federation Peak or [[Frenchmans Cap, Tasmania|Frenchmans Cap]].

In the northeast and east, continental [[granite]]s can be seen, such as at Freycinet, similar to coastal granites on mainland Australia. In the northwest and west, mineral-rich volcanic rock can be seen at [[Mount Read (Tasmania)|Mount Read]] near [[Rosebery, Tasmania|Rosebery]], or at [[Mount Lyell, Tasmania|Mount Lyell]] near [[Queenstown, Tasmania|Queenstown]]. Also present in the south and northwest is [[limestone]] with caves.

The quartzite and dolerite areas in the higher mountains show evidence of [[glaciation]], and much of Australia's glaciated landscape is found on the Central Plateau and the Southwest. [[Cradle Mountain]], another dolerite peak, for example, was a [[nunatak]]. The combination of these different rock types contributes to scenery which is distinct from any other region of the world.{{citation needed|date=July 2018}} In the far southwest corner of the state, the geology is almost wholly quartzite, which gives the mountains the false impression of having snow-capped peaks year round.