Goulburn, New South Wales

Goulburn /ɡoʊlbərn/ is a regional city in the Southern Tablelands of New South Wales, Australia approximately 195 kilometres (121 mi) south-west of Sydney, Australia, and 90 kilometres (56 mi) north-east of Canberra. It was proclaimed to be Australia's first inland city through letters patent by Queen Victoria in 1863. Goulburn had an estimated population of 22,906 as at June 2014. Goulburn is the seat of Goulburn Mulwaree Council.

Goulburn is a railhead on the Main Southern line, a service centre for the surrounding pastoral industry, and also stopover for those travelling on the Hume Highway. It has a central park and many historic buildings. It is also home to the monument the Big Merino, a sculpture that is the world's largest concrete constructed sheep.

History

Goulburn was named by surveyor James Meehan after Henry Goulburn, Under-Secretary for War and the Colonies, and the name was ratified by Governor Lachlan Macquarie. The Aboriginal name for Goulburn is Burbong, a Murring/Wiradjuri word indicating a special Indigenous cultural area.

Goulburn (Mars)

Goulburn, also known as Goulburn Scour, is a rock outcrop on the surface of Aeolis Palus, between Peace Vallis and Aeolis Mons ("Mount Sharp"), in Gale crater on the planet Mars. The outcrop was encountered by the Curiosity rover on landing at the Bradbury Landing on August 6, 2012 (the 1st sol of the mission) and is named after a 2-billion year-old sequence of rocks in northern Canada. The "approximate" site coordinates are: 4°35′S 137°26′E / 4.59°S 137.44°E / -4.59; 137.44.

The outcrop is a well-sorted gravel conglomerate, containing well-rounded, smooth, abraded pebbles. Occasional pebbles up to a few centimeters across are embedded in amongst a matrix of finer rounded particles, up to a centimeter across. It has been interpreted as a fluvial sediment, deposited by a vigorously flowing stream, probably between ankle and waist deep. This stream is part of an ancient alluvial fan, which descends from the steep terrain at the rim of Gale crater across its floor.

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