Uluru

Uluru in the evening

Uluru, also known as Ayers Rock, is a large sandstone rock formation located in the Northern Territory of central Australia. It is found in the Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park, 440 km southwest of Alice Springs. Uluru is sacred to the Pitjantjatjara and Yankunytjatjara, the Aboriginal people of the area. It has many springs, waterholes, rock caves and ancient paintings. Uluru is listed as a World Heritage Site for its natural and man-made attributes. It is one of Aulllllllllllllstralia's best known natural wonders and tourist sites.

Name

Uluru’s location relative to other places in Australia

The local Pitjantjatjara people call the landmark Uluṟu (IPA: /uluɻu/). This word has no other meaning in Pitjantjatjara, but it is a local family name. The underlined ṟ in Uluṟu is a retroflex approximant, as used by some American English speakers.

In October 1872 the explorer Ernest Giles was the first non-indigenous person to sight the rock formation. He saw it from a considerable distance, and was prevented by Lake Amadeus from approaching closer. He described it as “the remarkable pebble”. On 19 July, 1873, the surveyor William Gosse visited the rock and named it Ayers Rock in honour of the then Chief Secretary of South Australia, Sir Henry Ayers. The Aboriginal name was first recorded by the Wills expedition in 1903. Since then, both names have been used, although Ayers Rock was the most common name used by outsiders until recently.

In 1993, a dual naming policy was adopted that allowed official names that consist of both the traditional Aboriginal name and the English name. On 15 December 1993, it was renamed “Ayers Rock/Uluru” and became the first officially dual named feature in the Northern Territory. The order of the dual names was officially reversed to “Uluru/Ayers Rock” on 6 November 2002 following a request from the Regional Tourism Association in Alice Springs.

Description

Uluru rises 346 metres above the surrounding plain, is more than 8 km (five miles) around the base, and has a hard bare exterior resistent to erosion. It lacks scree slopes, resulting in the unusually steep faces near ground level. The rock itself is completely lacking in vegetation, but due to runoff the base is surrounded by water pools, fertile greenery, and wildlife. It has thus been an ideal meeting place for Aboriginal ceremonies throughout history.

Uluru is notable for appearing to change colour as the different light strikes it at different times of the day and year, with sunset a particularly remarkable sight when it briefly glows red. Although rainfall is uncommon in this semiarid area, during wet periods the rock acquires a silvery-grey colour, with streaks of black algae forming on the areas that serve as channels for water flow.

Kata Tjuta, also called Mount Olga or The Olgas, literally meaning “many heads” owing to its peculiar formation, is another rock formation about 25 km from Uluru. Special viewing areas with road access and parking have been constructed to give tourists the best views of both sites at dawn and dusk. A common mistake is to include Kata Tjuta as part of the Uluru formation, but it is in fact made of a different material (conglomerate).

Panoramic view of sunset at Uluru.

Geology

The rock formation making up Uluru is referred to as the Mutitjulu Arkose, and is one of many sedimentary formations filling the Amadeus Basin. The strata at Uluru are nearly vertical, dipping to the southwest at 85°, and have an exposed thickness of at least 2400 m. The rock is inferred to have been deposited an part of an extensive alluvial fan that extended out from the Musgrave, Mann and Petermann Ranges to the south and west. These ranges were thrust up during the Petermann Orogeny in late Neoproterozoic to early Cambrian times (550-530 Ma), and thus the Mutitjulu Arkose is believed to have been deposited at this time. The strata was later tilted to its near vertical position, possibly during the Paleozoic Alice Springs Orogeny, and no doubt extends well beyond Uluru in the subsurface. Uluru is an inselberg, literally "island mountain", a remnant left after the slow process of erosion from the original mountain ranges produced during the orogenies (mountain building episodes). The remarkable feature of Uluru is its homogeneity and lack of jointing and parting at bedding surfaces, leading to the lack of development of scree slopes and soil.

The rock itself is composed of coarse grained sandstone, specifically a type of sandstone referred to as arkose because it contains an abundance of feldspar. It also contains a significant quantity of quartz, other silicate minerals and rock fragments. The minerals present are in similar proportions to that found in granite, which makes up much of the ranges in the inferred source area. When fresh the rock has a grey colour, but weathering of minor iron-bearing minerals by the process of oxidation gives the outer surface layer of rock a red-brown rusty colour.

Flora

Wildflowers in bloom with Kata Tjuta/The Olgas in background

Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park flora represents a large portion of plants found in Central Australia. A number of these species are considered rare and restricted in the Park or the immediate region. There are many rare and endemic plants at Uluru and Kata Tjuta. A number of other species, while found elsewhere in central Australia, may be endangered within the Park.

The desert flora has adapted to the harsh conditions. The growth and reproduction of plant communities rely on irregular rainfall. Some plants are able to survive fire and some are dependent on it to reproduce. Plants are an important part of Tjukurpa, and there are ceremonies for each of the major plant foods. Many plants are associated with ancestral beings. Collection of plant foods remains a culturally important activity, reinforcing traditional links with country and Tjukurpa.

Flora in Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park can be broken into the following categories:

• Punu – trees
• Puti – shrubs
• Tjulpun-tjulpunpa – flowers
• Ukiri - grasses

Desert Oaks with Kata Tjuta/The Olgas in background

Trees such as the mulga and centralian bloodwood are used to make tools such as spearheads, boomerangs and bowls. The red sap of the bloodwood is used as a disinfectant and an inhalant for coughs and colds.

Others such as the river red gum and corkwood trees like grevillea and hakeas are a source of food themselves. The white flaky crust from river red gum leaves can be rolled into balls and eaten like a lolly and the nectar from the flowers of the corkwood trees can produce a sweet drink.

The witchetty bush looks like a shrubby mulga with broad round-ended leaves. Witchetty grubs are found in the roots of this tree. Daisies and other ground flowers bloom after rain and during the winter. Others such as the wattles bloom as spring approaches. Anangu collect wattle seed, crush and mix it with water to make an edible paste which they eat raw. To make damper, the seeds are parched with hot sand so their skins can be removed before they are ground for flour.

Spinifex grass

The prickly hard spinifex hummocks have enormous root systems that prevent desert sands shifting. The hummock roots spread underground beyond the prickly clump and deeply into the soil, forming an immense cone. Anangu use a resin gathered from the gummy spinifex to make gum. They thresh the spinifex until the resin particles fall free. These particles are heated until they fuse together to form a moldable black tar which Anangu work while warm. The gum is used for hunting and working implements, and to mend breaks in stone and wooden implements.

The naked woolybutt and native millet have seeds that are important Anangu foods. Women rub the seed heads from their stalks and then separate the seeds from the chaff by skilful winnowing. Using grinding stones, they then grind the seeds to flower for damper.

There are several rare and endangered species in the Park. Most of them like adder's tongue ferns (Ophioglossaceae Sp.) are restricted to the moist areas at the base of the monoliths, which are areas of high visitor use and subject to erosion.

Since the first Europeans arrived, 34 exotic plant species have been recorded in the Park, representing about 6.4% of the total park flora. Some such as perennial buffel grass (Cenchrus ciliaris) were introduced to rehabilitate areas damaged by erosion. It is the most threatening weed in the Park and has spread to invade water and nutrient rich drainage lines. Where infestation is dense, it prevents the growth of native grasses - a source of food for animals and humans. A few others such as burrgrass were brought in accidentally, carried on cars and people.

History

The beginning of human settlement in the Uluru region has not been determined, but archaeological findings to the east and west indicate a date more than 10,000 years ago. In 1920, the Northern Territory administration gazetted the south-west corner of the territory, including Uluru, as the Petermann Aboriginal reserve, thus preventing the expansion of pastoral leases into that area. However, Uluru and Kata Tjuta were excised from the reserve in 1958 with the intention of opening them up to tourism.

On 26 October 1985, the Australian government returned ownership of Uluṟu to the local Pitjantjatjara Aborigines, with one of the conditions being that the Anangu would lease it back to the National Parks and Wildlife for 99 years and that it would be jointly managed. The Aboriginal community of Mutitjulu (pop. approx. 300) is near the western end of Uluru. From Uluru it is 17 km by road to the tourist town of Yulara (pop. 3,000), which is situated just outside of the National Park.

Legends

A variety of Aborigine legends account for the existence of Uluru and its many cracks and fissures. One tells of serpent beings who waged many wars around Uluṟu, scarring the rock. Another myth recounts that two tribes of ancestral spirits were invited to a feast, but were distracted by the beautiful Sleepy Lizard Women and did not show up. In response, the angry hosts sang evil into a mud sculpture that came to life as the dingo. There followed a great battle, which ended in the deaths of the leaders of both tribes. The earth itself rose up in grief at the bloodshed — this is Uluru.

Restrictions for tourists

Climbing Uluru

Climbers and warning sign

The local Anangu do not climb Uluru because of its great spiritual significance. They request that visitors not climb the rock, partly due to the path crossing a sacred traditional dreaming track, and also a sense of responsibility for the safety of visitors to their land. The Anangu have a spiritual connection to Uluru, and feel great sadness when a person dies or is injured whilst climbing. In 1983, then Prime Minister of Australia Bob Hawke promised to forbid climbing, but access to climb Uluru was made a condition before title was officially given back to the traditional owners.

Climbing Uluru is a popular attraction for visitors. A chain handhold added in 1964 and extended in 1976 makes the hour long climb easier, but it is still a long (800 metres) and steep hike to the top, where it can be quite windy. An above average level of fitness, and a high tolerance to the extreme hot desert conditions is required. Over the years there have been at least forty deaths, mainly due to heart failure whilst climbing Uluru, as well as non-fatal heart attacks and other injuries.

Photographing Uluru

The Anangu also request that visitors not photograph certain sections of Uluru, for reasons related to traditional beliefs (called tjukurpa). These sections are the sites of gender-linked rituals, and are forbidden ground for Anangu of the opposite sex of those participating in the rituals in question. The photographic ban is intended to prevent Anangu from inadvertently violating this taboo by encountering photographs of the forbidden sites in the outside world.

Historical photographs of these formations continue to circulate through the world population at large. Signs have been posted around the restricted areas, to ensure that visitors will not violate the ban by mistake.

Superstitions

It is often reported that those who take rocks from the area will be cursed and suffer misfortune.

References

Sunrise at Uluru

• Breeden, Stanley. 1994. Uluru: Looking after Uluru-Kata Tjuta - The Anangu Way. Simon & Schuster Australia, East Roseville, Sydney. Reprint: 2000.
• Hill, Barry. The Rock: Travelling to Uluru. Allen & Unwin, St, Leonards, Sydney. ISBN 1-86373-778-2; ISBN 1-86373-712-X (pbk.)
• Mountford, Charles P. 1965. AYERS ROCK: Its People, Their Beliefs and Their Art. Angus & Robertson. Amended reprint: Seal Books, 1977. ISBN 0-7270-0215-5.

External links

• Uluru - Kata Tjuta National Park Australian Government (Federal) Department of Environment and Heritage
• Uluru Northern Territory Government State Tourism Authority
• Uluru/Ayers Rock Sacred Destinations