Thursday, January 14, 2016

Purnululu National Park - Australia



The Purnululu National Park is a World Heritage Site in the East Kimberley region of Western Australia. The 239,723-hectare (592,370-acre) national park is located approximately 300 kilometres (190 mi) south of Kununurra, with Halls Creek located to the south. Declared a World Heritage Site in 2003, the park was inscribed as follows:[2]

...[is a] remote area managed as wilderness. It includes the Bungle Bungle Range, a spectacularly incised landscape of sculptured rocks which contains superlative examples of beehive-shaped karst sandstone rising 250 metres above the surrounding semi-arid savannah grasslands. Unique depositional processes and weathering have given these towers their spectacular black and orange banded appearance, formed by biological processes of cyanobacteria (single cell photosynthetic organisms) which serve to stabilise and protect the ancient sandstone formations. These outstanding examples of cone karst that have eroded over a period of 20 million years are of great beauty and exceptional geological interest.


Purnululu National Park World Heritage site

Aerial view of the domes and a canyon.
Echidna Chasm.
The Domes Walk, Purnululu National Park. The beehive-shaped domes are Devonian calcareous sandstone, with regularly alternating, dark gray bands of cynobacterial crust.
The World Heritage status of the region was created and negotiated in 2003, and the adopted boundary of the existing national park.[3] Since its listing, the Government of Western Australia has reserved additional areas located adjacent to the World Heritage Area, including the Purnululu Conservation Park and the Ord River Regeneration Reserve.[2] The site was gazetted on the Australian National Heritage List on 21 May 2007 under the Environment and Heritage Legislation Amendment Act (No. 1), 2003 (Cth).[4]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Purnululu_National_Park