How Was Uluru Formed

Dreamtime at Uluru

If you decide finally to visit Uluru, a.k.a Ayer’s Rock, try and sign up for a tour with the local Aborigines to get a better insight into the myths and legends of this iconic Australian attraction.

ULURU, formerly known as Ayer’s Rock, is one of world travel’s few must-see sites.

The image of this huge red rock looming out of a russet landscape with the sun’s rays bouncing off of it and turning it various shades of pink will always be one of Australia’s most iconic symbols. However, despite it being synonymous with images of the Australian outback, it still fails to figure on many tourists’ itineraries, mainly due to the colossal size of Australia.

Sitting squarely in the middle of the Outback, it is a long way removed from the glittering cities of Sydney and Melbourne and the beaches and reefs of northern Queensland. This remoteness means that most people opt to stay in the resort area which has been built around Uluru.

A handful of hotels in Uluru are grouped together as the Ayer’s Rock Resort, and they are serviced by an airport and pretty much nothing else. Due to the fact that there is no town to speak of, the hotels here have a captive market, and hence it is difficult to find budget accommodation. However, the resorts are well equipped and the night skies are unbeatable, especially for those of us who live in cities and rarely get to glimpse a star-studded canopy above our heads.

Another option is to stay at Alice Springs, the biggest town in the Outback, and take a bus tour to Uluru from there. This is what the majority of tour groups choose to do. However, be warned that what looks like a small distance on a map, is actually 460km on the ground.

Uluru has great spiritual meaning for the local Aboriginal (Anungu) people, and there is no better way to grasp its spiritual meaning and see how the original inhabitants of the land have lived for some 40,000 years than taking a tour organised by the local people. The Anungu conduct a renowned Uluru Tour where you get to learn about the culture, history and customs of this fascinating people.

However, if you decide to join, be prepared to wake up before sunrise. (It’s to avoid the stifling heat of later in the day.)

Geologists may tell you that the huge rock was formed millions of years ago during a cataclysmic upheaval in the world’s crust, but the Anungu have another theory. While you join them on the 2km Liru Walk to Uluru’s base, they will tell you the true story of its creation.

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A lie near the southern margin of an area geologists call the Amadeus Basin. This depression in the Earth's crust formed about 900 million years ago, and received layer upon layer of sediment over several hundred million years. This stopped about 300 million years ago.

At times the Amadeus Basin was a shallow sea collecting these sediments. Some of it was blocked off from the sea and the water evaporated leaving crusted salt. A cold period left deposits of glacial rock.

The older sediments in the Amadeus Basin were crumpled and buckled about 550 million years ago, and mountain ranges were uplifted in an event the geologists call the Petermann Ranges Orogeny. At this time there were no trees or grasses covering the landscape. Bacteria and algae were the only life forms and they helped break down the jagged mountain ranges.

These bare mountains eroded easily. Huge amounts of sediment washed away when it rained and formed alluvial fans adjacent to the ranges. It is the remains of at least two of these alluvial fans that are seen today as Ulu

"The sky’s strong color and brightness near sunset begin with small particles in the relatively thick lower atmosphere being illuminated by direct (reddened) sunlight. As the sun sets, the boundary between the earth’s shadow and the antitwilight arch rises in the sky and becomes progressively less distinct. As the boundary between the antitwilight arch and the earth’s shadow rises, it reaches an area where the atmosphere is thinner, and less red light is scattered. Eventually, only bluish light is scattered and only this blue light reaches our eyes. Ultimately, the antitwilight arch fades to blue, and the shadow blends smoothly with the deepening blue night sky.

How can we see the earth’s shadow before sunset? Is it geometrically impossible? In fact, its dark bluish rim can be seen several minutes before the sun disappears. Just as a piece of cloudy glass is able to cast its shadow on itself, we can see the shadow of the translucent atmosphere cast on itself.

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