Bungle Bungle
 
| |
Location of the Bunge Bungle Range in Western Australia
|
The Bungle Bungle are a globally unique sandstone form in the Purnululu National Park with beehive-like peaks (also called domes ) in the Kimberley region ( Western Australia ).
history
The Kiya - Aboriginalstamm was known the mountain range for about 20,000 years. The indigenous people called the area Purnululu , the word for "sandstone" in their language.
A farm founded in 1930 in the flat savannah northwest of the mountain range was named Bungle Bungle by Arthur Muggleton . This name etymology is unclear and is based on a misunderstanding, possibly a corruption of Purnululu or of the grass species bundle bundle .
In 1983 a film team flew over the strange beehives and discovered them by accident. Aerial footage of this documentary spread the word about the area and the first visitors came. The mountain range was named by the Department of Lands And Surveys after the existing farm. Today, Bungle Bungle is synonymous with the "beehive" formation and occasionally - incorrectly - for the entire Purnululu National Park, which was established in 1987. However, this consists of differentiated forms of vegetation and geological phenomena, of which the beehives only make up the southern and eastern part - in this respect a pars pro toto designation.
In 2003, the Bungle Bungle in which were UNESCO - World List of Cultural and Natural Heritage of Humanity added.
geology
The Bungle Bungle Range is of Devonian origin and is a 350 to 375 million year old sedimentary complex . These sediments were removed from the northern mountains and plateaus and transported by the huge river systems that used to cross the area. Tectonic movements have raised the terrain twice, once around 250 million years ago and once again approx. 20 million years ago. As a result of the uplift, the rock was exposed to the erosive forces of raging rivers in the rainy season . They were given the characteristic "beehive" shape in the period after the most recent elevation.
The complex is an internationally known example of the not very common sandstone karst . It is a landscape of the Kegelkarst .
The striking layers in red and black are sandstone with proportions of iron minerals , conglomerate deposits and crusts of cyanobacteria . The fragile "domes" are completely without vegetation, as the heavy rains during the rainy season wash the entire soil into the savannah in the lowlands, from which this chain rises abruptly about 200 to 300 m above its surroundings. The highest point is reached at 578 meters.
Infrastructure
Most of the beehive region has no roads or paths and is therefore completely inaccessible. The full dimensions of the structure can only be seen from the air. The Purnululu National Park has an airport ( Bellburn Airstrip ) in the south , from which organized trips to the park can be undertaken in the dry season . Only a small edge zone of the peculiar structures is accessible on a circular hiking trail from Piccaninny Carpark (approx. 1 km); From this hikers' car park two more paths go deeper into narrow gorges of the national park ( Cathedral Gorge and Piccaninny Gorge ).
Individual travelers can alternatively approach the Bungle Bungle via the difficult Spring Creek Track from the Great Northern Highway (entry point 304 km south of Kununurra and 160 km northeast of Halls Creek ) with a four-wheel drive vehicle . It takes 3–4 hours for the 80 km of slopes to the Piccaninny Carpark , so that the wilderness campsites of the national park are usually used.
literature
- Janine Günther, Jens Mohr: Western Australia and the top end. 1st edition 2005, ISBN 3-9809763-0-0 .
- Carolyn Thomson-Dans: North-West Bound from the Batavia Coast to the Kimberley. 2007, ISBN 978-0-7307-5568-1 .
- Ian Tyler: Geology and Landforms of the Kimberley. 2005, ISBN 0-7309-6852-9 .
Web links
- UNESCO: World Heritage Scanned Nomination: Purnululu National Park (English; PDF file; 4.4 MB)
Individual evidence
- ↑ UNESCO: World Heritage Scanned Nomination: Purnululu National Park , pp. 7-12 (English; PDF file; 4.4 MB)
Coordinates: 17 ° 29 ′ S , 128 ° 28 ′ E