 He had become the Government Geologist of Tasmania in 1944 where he organised the understanding of Paleozoic formations in the west coast mineral fields, and introduced the Cenozoic rift valley idea, and the policy of publishing the results of the Geologic Survey.Carey introduced terms such as orocline and sphenochasm and the concept of the hotspot.The University of Tasmania building for Geology and Geography was constructed in 1962.