A Stark Forest Of Standing Stones The Pinnacles, a stark forest of standing stones on a plain of bright yellow sand. Thousands of limestone pillars stand in groups in the silence of Western Australias south-west ‘Painted Desert’, part of the Nambung National Park. Nothing but the sighing and moaning of the wind breaks the eerie silence of the Pinnacles Desert. Any science fiction writer seeking a setting of a spinechiller need look no further than this alien spot, perhaps the inspiration of the blockbuster movie ‘Pitch Black’? The necessary ingredients are there – a stark forest of standing stones in an area practically devoid of vegetation; no sign of life or human activity (unless you are a tourist), just bright yellow, wind-stirred sand. Sombre grey stones 1-5m (3-16ft) tall rise sheer from the flat sandy floor, guarding the buried secrets of tens of thousands of years. Deeper into the area the colours change and grey gives way to gold. Some of the stones are the size of cars, some are the size of houses, and others are small and slim like pencils. Thousands of them cover an area almost 2sq miles of desert. Scientists estimate the stone pillars to be 25,000-30,000 years old, and are convinced that they must have been exposed on at least one occasion before this century, because shells and Stone Age artefacts were found stuck into the base of some pillars. The shells have been carbon dated to around 5000 years old, so the pinnacles were probably uncovered some 6000 years ago. But later the stones must have been submerged by sand again maybe thousands of years, because they do not figure in Aboriginal lore or other documentation. The formation of the Pinnacles is debated among scientist, but the leading theory is that soft-bodied sea creatures such as limpets were originally raw material from which the pinnacles pillars were built. These creatures flourished in warm seas 700,000-120,000 years ago, and after they died their skeletons crumbled to form limestone. Carried ashore by wave and wind, the sand built up layer by layer into dunes. Eventually, encouraged by wet winters and dry summers of a past Mediterranean climate, a thick growth of vegetation developed. The dunes were stabilised by a network of roots and build-up of humus (decaying vegetation). As acidic winter rain dribbled into the sand, some dissolved matter hardened into cement. Humus increased the acidity of the water leaching down, and concentrated the cementation to form a layer of harder limestone. Plant roots pushed through cracks in this hardened layer, and more limestone formed around them. Shifting sand eventually swamped the vegetation, and the roots rotted to leave channels of limestone. These were slowly widened by water leaching down, and some limestone weathered away, leaving only the tougher parts. These remnants are the pillars revealed when the sand was eventually blown away, just like I was blown away when I was stood amongst these amazing wonders of natural beauty. ~JM Image Credit: My own Further Reading: Nambung National Park: parks.dpaw.wa.gov.au/park/nambung Video of the Pinnacles: https://youtube/watch?v=ZLXth5a1PPM Visit Pinnacles: visitpinnaclescountry.au Travel Guide: westernaustralia-travellersguide/pinnacles-western-australia.html McNamara, K. (2009). Pinnacles. Western Australian Museum. Dear Readers, Most of our posts are not reaching your news feed due to fbs filtering system. If you wish to enjoy our posts more often, use the following for information on how to go about it: tmblr.co/Zyv2Js1VWMUJ0.
Posted on: Sun, 14 Dec 2014 05:57:05 +0000
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