On the side of Uluru that you don't see from the "sunset" car park there are lots of strange shapes in the surface of the rock. Some are fairly shallow and some are caves. Almost all of them have special meanings to the Anangu people. Some of them are so special that you can't walk near them and shouldn't even photograph. Here are a few. I really like the large one that looks a bit like a frog. What causes these breakouts in the rock surface is just the large changes in temperature that the surface rock goes through. The expansion and contraction of the surface rock causes cracks. Dew and occasional rain seeping into the crack causes faster cracking and eventually plates of surface rock fall off. This exposes the softer rock inside and water and wind erosion cuts the rippled shapes and caves. In these photos you can also see the grey areas where water has washed the dusty red surface away. The real colour of the rock in Uluru is grey. The red surface is caused by oxidation of the iron compounds in it. When plates of rock fall off you can see other reddish-grey colours in the "artwork" nature has created.
Labels: Central Australia, Uluru
# posted by Bart Bear @ 2:47 pm
