Located 450 kilometers from Alice Springs in Central Australia, the Kata Tiuta National Park has many attractions on its territory. Rock Ayers Rock (new Uluru), standing out in the middle of the Australian desert, is the most famous of them.
What are the features of Mount Uluru in Australia? You can learn about this and some facts related to it by reading the information presented in the article.
General Information on the Nature of Central Australia
These are endless deserts with thorny shrubs and low trees, with salt water lakes scattered everywhere. As you move through these expanses, canyons and mountains with strange shapes can suddenly appear.
In its very depths is a surprisingly beautiful and mysterious district - the Red Center. It is full of unique natural wonders. Numerous tourists from all over the world come to this place every year, although the weather here is unusually hot.
Australian mountain peaks are not famous and are not popular with climbers, however, they are unusual. Any native Australian will name Uluru (Mount Red) as a symbol of Central Australia.
A bit of history
Mount Uluru is a huge rock formation that appeared about 680 million years ago at the bottom of Amadius - an ancient lake. This miracle of nature, destroyed by sharp temperature drops and winds, rises in the very center of the desert, violating the uniformity of the landscape. European scientists found and described it in 1873, giving the name Ayers Rock. This amazing red mountain was home to many tribes. The natives who inhabited these lands 10,000 years ago lived in caves at the foot of the mountain. They worshiped this rock as the cradle of life. A source of water from a rock gave them the most necessary for survival. And today, the inhabitants of this area regularly hold their sacred rites at its foot.
Officially, this rock belongs to the Anang tribe, who leased this park to the government (term - 99 years). Every year, authorities pay natives $ 75 thousand with a premium of 20% for each ticket sold. Indigenous people are happy to support the development of tourism.
Description of Mount Uluru: photo
In its form, it is similar to a lying elephant. From a distance, the mountain looks absolutely smooth, but when approaching it, all cracks, bumps, roughness and furrows become visible. It consists of a unique stone block of red sandstone, capable of changing its color depending on the lighting.
Uluru is the largest solid rock in the world. Its length is 3600 meters, its width is approximately 3,000 m, and its height is 350 m. Its sides are vertically cut by furrows reaching a depth of 2 meters. On the walls of the rocks today you can see many drawings preserved from ancient times. They depict deities revered by the natives, and some plots of their life.
In many caves, dotted the base of the mountain, you can see the ancient sacred altars.
Features
Mount Uluru is a kind of gigantic monolith that rises above a homogeneous flat surface. It attracts hundreds of thousands of people with its main feature - the ability to change color throughout the day. At dawn, in the rays of the rising sun, the black mountain gradually turns into dark purple. Further, as the sun rises in the sky, the color becomes blood red and then pink. When the sun reaches its highest point, the rock turns gold. The game of colors is celebrated in the afternoon. Only when the sun goes beyond the horizon does a giant block of stone become black again. It should be noted that during rain Uluru turns blue with a lilac shimmer.
The bizarre nature of this area is also due to the fact that under this colossus there are underground lakes that only surface in some places. These are small ponds inside caves.
It should be noted and the peculiarity of climatic conditions of the area. Although the territory is a desert, torrential rains and hurricanes are frequent occurrences. And the temperature in these places per day varies quite a lot. With a daytime heat of 38 degrees, the nights here are very cold. In connection with these phenomena, many cracks appear on the stone.
Mount Uluru is on the list of UNESCO sites.
Tours for tourists
In order for tourists to see this magnificent natural representation in flowers, special observation points are arranged at a distance from the mountain.
After the construction of a highway through a desert area, tourists poured here, the number of which is growing every year. Here you can book a guided tour of the surroundings, during which the aborigines tell many local legends. You can also take a tourist route, accompanied by an experienced guide to the top of the mountain, but the journey is unsafe. In total, the rise lasts about two hours under the scorching sun. There were times when tourists died as a result of sunstrokes. There are frequent falls from Mount Uluru in Australia.
Interesting Facts
Ancient cave paintings almost disappeared. This is due to the fact that before the walls were covered with excursion guides with water, so that the image looked more clearly. As a result, the lower part of the paintings began to fade. But it was noticed in time and forbidden to perform such actions.
Several versions of what Mount Uluru is:
- “Mountain iceberg”, connecting underground with the neighboring mountain Olga.
- A meteorite crashed into the ground.
- A small remnant of an ancient mountain range (particles of rock have spread throughout the region for millions of years, and the remaining rock, eroded, has acquired its current rounded shape).