Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Uluru (Ayers Rock) and Kata Tjuta (The Olgas): Inselbergs of Central Australia

  • Chapter
  • First Online:
Geomorphological Landscapes of the World

Abstract

Uluru and Kata Tjuta are inselbergs standing in isolation in the desert plains of central Australia. Uluru is a beveled bornhardt shaped steeply dipping Cambrian arkose. Kata Tjuta is a complex of domes, each developed by fracture-controlled weathering and erosion of a mass of gently dipping conglomerate, also of Cambrian age. The sedimentary formations strike northwest to southeast and the compartments on which the residuals are formed were compressed as a result of either cross- or interference folding. They were exposed as low hills by the latest Cretaceous and possibly as early as the Triassic, since which time the detailed morphology of the forms shows that they have come to stand higher and higher in the relief as a result of the episodic lowering of the surrounding plains. Their persistence is attributed to reinforcement effects.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution
Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 139.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 179.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book
USD 249.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

Notes

  1. 1.

    All photographs in this chapter were taken by the author

References

  • Bourne JA, Twidale CR (2000) Stepped inselbergs and their significance for general theories of landscape development. S Afr J Geol 103:105–119

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bourne JA, Twidale CR (2003) Geomorphological development of the Baxter Hills, a conglomeratic upland near Iron Knob, South Australia. Z Geomorph NF 47:351–371

    Google Scholar 

  • Bremer H (1965) Ayers Rock, ein Beispiel für klimagenetische Morphologie. Z Geomorph NF 9:249–284

    Google Scholar 

  • Falconer JD (1911) The geology and geography of Northern Nigeria. Macmillan, London

    Google Scholar 

  • Giles E (1889) Australia twice traversed: The romance of exploration, 2 vols. Sampson/Low/Marston/Searle/Rivington, London

    Google Scholar 

  • Gosse WC (1874) Report and diary of Mr W. C. Gosse’s central and western exploring expedition, 1873. S Austr Parl Pap, 48

    Google Scholar 

  • Harris WK, Twidale CR (1991) Revised age for Ayers Rock and The Olgas. Trans Roy Soc S Austr 115:109

    Google Scholar 

  • King LC (1975) Bornhardt landforms and what they teach. Z Geomorph NF 19:299–318

    Google Scholar 

  • Mabbutt JA (1965) The weathered land surface in central Australia. Z Geomorph NF 9:82–114

    Google Scholar 

  • Mountford CP (1965) Ayers Rock: Its people, their beliefs, and their art. Angus and Robertson, Sydney

    Google Scholar 

  • Ollier CD (1969) Weathering. Oliver and Boyd, Edinburgh

    Google Scholar 

  • Ollier CD, Tuddenham WG (1961) Inselbergs of central Australia. Z Geomorph NF 5:257–276

    Google Scholar 

  • Sweet IP, Crick IH (1992) Uluru and Kata Tjuta. A geological history. Australian Geological Survey Organisation, Canberra

    Google Scholar 

  • Twidale CR (1962) Steepened margins of inselbergs from north-western Eyre Peninsula, South Australia. Z Geomorph NF 6:51–69

    Google Scholar 

  • Twidale CR (1978) On the origin of Ayers Rock, central Australia. Z Geomorph NF, 31(Suppl):177–206

    Google Scholar 

  • Twidale CR (2007a) Ancient Australian landscapes. Rosenberg, Sydney

    Google Scholar 

  • Twidale CR (2007b) Concatenation and resultant inequalities in denudation. Phys Geogr 28:50–75

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Twidale CR, Bourne JA (1975) Episodic exposure of inselbergs. Geol Soc Amer Bull 86:1473–1481

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Twidale CR, Bourne JA (1978) Bornhardts developed in sedimentary rocks, central Australia. S Afr Geogr 6:35–51

    Google Scholar 

  • Twidale CR, Lageat Y (1994) Climatic geomorphology: A critique. Prog Phys Geogr 18:319–334

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Twidale CR, Sved G (1978) Minor granite landforms associated with the release of compressive stress. Austr Geogrl Studies 16:161–174

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Twidale CR, Vidal Romani JR (2005) Landforms and geology of granite terrains. Balkema, Leiden

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Twidale CR, Vidal Romani JR, Campbell EM, Centeno JD (1996) Sheet fractures: Response to erosional offloading or to tectonic stress? Z Geomorph NF, 106(Suppl):1–24

    Google Scholar 

  • Wells AT, Forman DJ, Ranford LC, Cook PJ (1970) Geology of the Amadeus Basin, central Australia. Bur Min Res Geol Geophys Bull 100

    Google Scholar 

  • Williams MAJ, De Deckker P, Kershaw AP (eds) (1991) The Cenozoic in Austalia; a re-appraisal of the evidence. Geol Soc Australia Spec Publ 18:99–118

    Google Scholar 

  • Wopfner H, Callen R, Harris WK (1974) The lower Tertiary Eyre formation of the southwestern Great Artesian Basin. J Geol Soc Austr 21:17–51

    Google Scholar 

  • Wopfner H, Twidale CR (1967) Geomorphological history of the Lake Eyre basin. In: Jennings JN, Mabbutt JA (eds) Landform studies from Australia and New Guinea. Australian National University Press, Canberra, pp 117–143

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. University of Bristol and McGill University, Montreal, Canada

    C. R. Twidale

Authors
  1. C. R. Twidale
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Dept. Geography, University of Wroclaw, Pl. Uniwersytecki 1, Wroclaw, 50-137, Poland

    Piotr Migon

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2009 Springer Science+Business Media B.V.

About this chapter

Cite this chapter

Twidale, C.R. (2009). Uluru (Ayers Rock) and Kata Tjuta (The Olgas): Inselbergs of Central Australia. In: Migon, P. (eds) Geomorphological Landscapes of the World. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-90-481-3055-9_33

Download citation

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation