View source for Cape Moreton

{{for|the headland in Greenland|Cape Morton}}
{{Use Australian English|date=June 2020}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2019}}
{{short description|Point in Australia}}
[[File:Moreton Island Lighthouse.jpg|Cape Moreton from sea|thumb|250px|right]]
'''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 {{convert|5|km|0}} north-west of Cape Moreton.

The outcrop is mostly composed of [[sandstone]], but also some conglomerate, siltstone and shale.<ref name="imb">{{cite book |title=Islands of Moreton Bay |last=Horton |first=Helen |year=1983 |publisher=Boolarong Publications |location=Spring Hill, Queensland |isbn=0-908175-67-1 |pages=103–114}}</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">{{cite journal |last1=Levin |first1=Noam |last2=Neil |first2=David |last3=Syktus |first3=Jozef |date=December 2014 |title=Spatial variability of dune form on Moreton Island, Australia, and its correspondence with wind regime derived from observing stations and reanalyses |url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S187596371400055X |journal=Aeolian Research |volume=15 |pages=289–300 |doi=10.1016/j.aeolia.2014.06.006 |access-date=22 October 2022|url-access=subscription }}</ref>

==History==
[[File:Moreton island.jpg|thumb|left|Moreton Bay]]
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, Queensland|Amity]] on [[North Stradbroke Island]].<ref name="imb"/>

On 24 February 1894, the [[Aarhus Historic Shipwreck|Aarhus]] sank about two nautical miles from the cape after striking Smith's Rocks. The [[hospital ship]] [[AHS Centaur|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&nbsp;m below the ocean surface.

The ''[[MV Pacific Adventurer]]'' lost containers in high seas created by [[Cyclone Hamish (2009)|Cyclone Hamish]] and caused the [[2009 southeast Queensland oil spill]]. The containers were located after a 10-day search, about {{convert|7|km|0}} off the coast of Cape Moreton.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/qld-news/navy-locates-missing-containers-20090328-9ej3.html |title=Navy locates missing containers |author=Andrew Wight |access-date=2008-03-28 |date=2008-03-28 |work=[[Brisbane Times]] }}</ref>

==Lighthouse==
[[File:Cape Moreton Light aerial.jpg|thumb|right|An aerial view of the lightstation]]
{{main|Cape Moreton Light}}
[[Cape Moreton Light]] was the first [[lighthouse]] established in Queensland. The {{convert|23|m}} tall structure was constructed of locally quarried [[sandstone]], and was built in 1857.<ref>{{cite book |title=Brisbane's Moreton Bay:Our heritage in focus |last=Nolan |first=Carolyn |author2=Robert Longhurst |year=1996 |publisher=[[State Library of Queensland]] |location=[[South Brisbane, Queensland]] |isbn=0-7242-7176-7 |page=52 }}</ref> 35 "good conduct" prisoners were used for labour.<ref name="imb"/>

A [[pilot station]] was established at [[Bulwer, Queensland|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>{{cite AHD|17189|Cape Moreton Lighthouse Complex}}
</ref>

==See also==
{{portal|Queensland}}
*[[Point Lookout, Queensland|Point Lookout]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
* {{cite loa|QLD|Moreton%20Island|The Cape Moreton Lighthouse|url3=Cape%20Moreton}}

{{1stVoyageCookAus}}

[[Category:Headlands of Queensland|Moreton]]