Young at heart
Most of us know about Australia’s ancient geology – but many of her landscapes are very fresh and new.
Most of us know about Australia’s ancient geology – but many of her landscapes are very fresh and new.
The Nullarbor Plain, the world’s largest limestone karst landscape, is tens of millions of years old. The Nullarbor – a dry, flat, 200,000sq.km savannah – stretches 1100km along the southern coast of Australia from Balladonia east of Norseman, WA, to north of Yalata in SA. Above ground it is famously featureless. Edward John Eyre, the first European to cross the Nullarbor in 1840–1841, described it as the “sort of place one gets into in bad dreams”. But beneath the surface is a complex world of tunnels within a vast slab of limestone. Much of southern Australia is also riddled with smaller blocks of limestone. Find the full story in the Jan/Feb issue (#130) of Australian Geographic.
Born from ancient volcanic activity, the distinctively rugged Warrumbungles landscape calls climbers who revel in the challenge of raw, unpredictable lines.
New research narrows down where giant earthquakes are likely to hit
A zircon mineral from WA is the oldest known matter in the world, confirming that Earth is 4.4b years old, scientists say.
Evidence of what might be the oldest bacteria on Earth could help us find life on other planets, experts say.
The power of the NZ earthquake has had distant effects, including the carving of a glacier.
A large earthquake is expected any time in Australia, but there is no way of knowing where or when it will occur.
In 1989, Australia’s most destructive earthquake hit Newcastle with devastating consequences.
The giant pink granite Pildappa Rock has captured the eye of our roving Highway One team, in South Australia.