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Painted Desert (South Australia)
The Painted Desert is in the Far North (South Australia), Far North of South Australia. It is north-east of Coober Pedy, South Australia, Coober Pedy, in the Arckaringa Station pastoral lease, not far from the homestead. It is notable for its distinctive mesas, mountains, and geological formations. Not far from here on the way to Oodnadatta, South Australia, Oodnadatta, there are large areas of ground covered with mica. The entire region is desolate and made up of soft, fragile rock. Geology The Painted Desert was seabed 80 million years ago. As the land rose, some of the rock has eroded away, leaving the Arckaringa Hills in many shades of orange, yellow, and white shale on the slopes. The Mirackina Range of mesas extends to the west. The Arckaringa Hills is of geological and biological significance as it is also the site of rare plant species and the southernmost extent of the range of Australia's largest monitor lizard. See also * Painted Desert (Arizona) References [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Far North (South Australia)
The Far North is a large region of South Australia close to the Northern Territory border. Colloquial usage of the term in South Australia refers to that part of South Australia north of a line roughly from Ceduna through Port Augusta to Broken Hill. The South Australian Government defines the Far North region similarly with the exception of the Maralinga Tjarutja Lands, the Yalata Aboriginal community and other unincorporated crown lands in the state's far west, which are officially considered part of the Eyre and Western region. The region is both the largest and also the least populated of the state. The Far North is also known as the ''Arid Lands'' of South Australia as much of the region is desert. Deserts The deserts in the north east are the Simpson Desert, Tirari Desert, Painted Desert and the Pedirka Desert. To the north and north west the Great Victoria Desert predominates the landscape. Governance The Far North includes the following local government areas: An ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
South Australia
South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a state in the southern central part of Australia. It covers some of the most arid parts of the country. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories by area, and second smallest state by population. It has a total of 1.8 million people. Its population is the second most highly centralised in Australia, after Western Australia, with more than 77 percent of South Australians living in the capital Adelaide, or its environs. Other population centres in the state are relatively small; Mount Gambier, the second-largest centre, has a population of 33,233. South Australia shares borders with all of the other mainland states, as well as the Northern Territory; it is bordered to the west by Western Australia, to the north by the Northern Territory, to the north-east by Queensland, to the east by New South Wales, to the south-east by Victoria, and to the south by the Great Australian Bight.M ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Coober Pedy, South Australia
Coober Pedy () is a town in northern South Australia, north of Adelaide on the Stuart Highway. The town is sometimes referred to as the "opal capital of the world" because of the quantity of precious opals that are mined there. Coober Pedy is renowned for its below-ground dwellings, called "dugout (shelter), dugouts", which are built in this fashion due to the scorching daytime heat. The name "Coober Pedy" is thought to derive from the Aboriginal Australian languages, Aboriginal term ''kupa-piti'', which means "whitefellas' hole", but in 1975 the local Aboriginal Australians, Aboriginal people of the town adopted the name Umoona, which means "long life" and is also their name for the Acacia aneura, mulga tree. In the 2016 Australian census, there were 1,762 people in Coober Pedy. History Aboriginal peoples have a long-standing connection with the area. Coober Pedy is considered by the senior Western Desert cultural bloc, Western Desert people to be the traditional lands ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Arckaringa Station
Arckaringa Station is a pastoral lease in the Australian state of South Australia which that once operated as a sheep station but now operates as a cattle station. It is located approximately south west of Oodnadatta and north of Coober Pedy. Most of the property is composed of gibber plains, flood-out creek systems and breakaway country. The ephemeral Arckaringa Creek runs through the property. The property and the Creek are both named after the rocky outcrop, Mount Arckaringa in the Painted Desert. The name is Aboriginal in origin but the meaning is not known. The property currently occupies an area of and is able to carry 2,100 head of cattle. The average rainfall in the area is with stock on the property reliant on water from 17 bores and dug out 20 dams. A government bore had been sunk on the upper Arckaringa Creek in 1883 for the purposes of watering stock along a stock route than ran through the area from the Musgrave Ranges. Established some time prior to 190 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mesa
A mesa is an isolated, flat-topped elevation, ridge or hill, which is bounded from all sides by steep escarpments and stands distinctly above a surrounding plain. Mesas characteristically consist of flat-lying soft sedimentary rocks capped by a more resistant layer or layers of harder rock, e.g. shales overlain by sandstones. The resistant layer acts as a caprock that forms the flat summit of a mesa. The caprock can consist of either sedimentary rocks such as sandstone and limestone; dissected lava flows; or a deeply eroded duricrust. Unlike ''plateau'', whose usage does not imply horizontal layers of bedrock, e.g. Tibetan Plateau, the term ''mesa'' applies exclusively to the landforms built of flat-lying strata. Instead, flat-topped plateaus are specifically known as '' tablelands''.Duszyński, F., Migoń, P. and Strzelecki, M.C., 2019. ''Escarpment retreat in sedimentary tablelands and cuesta landscapes–Landforms, mechanisms and patterns.'' ''Earth-Science Reviews, no. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Oodnadatta, South Australia
Oodnadatta is a small, remote outback town and locality in the Australian state of South Australia, located north-north-west of the state capital of Adelaide by road or direct, at an altitude of . The unsealed Oodnadatta Track, an outback road popular with tourists, runs through the town. In the , there were 74 dwellings and the population was 318. Town facilities include a hotel, caravan park, post office, general stores, police station, hospital, fuel and minor mechanical repairs. The old railway station now serves as a museum. From the 1880s to the 1930s, Oodnadatta was a base for camel drivers and their animals, which provided cartage when the railway was under construction and along outback tracks before roads were established. After the railway line was lifted, Oodnadatta's role changed from that of a government service centre and supply depot for surrounding pastoral properties to a residential freehold town for Aboriginal families who, moving from cattle work, bought ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mica
Micas ( ) are a group of silicate minerals whose outstanding physical characteristic is that individual mica crystals can easily be split into extremely thin elastic plates. This characteristic is described as perfect basal cleavage. Mica is common in igneous and metamorphic rock and is occasionally found as small flakes in sedimentary rock. It is particularly prominent in many granites, pegmatites, and schists, and "books" (large individual crystals) of mica several feet across have been found in some pegmatites. Micas are used in products such as drywalls, paints, fillers, especially in parts for automobiles, roofing and shingles, as well as in electronics. The mineral is used in cosmetics and food to add "shimmer" or "frost." Properties and structure The mica group is composed of 37 phyllosilicate minerals. All crystallize in the monoclinic system, with a tendency towards pseudohexagonal crystals, and are similar in structure but vary in chemical composition. Micas are ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Monitor Lizard
Monitor lizards are lizards in the genus ''Varanus,'' the only extant genus in the family Varanidae. They are native to Africa, Asia, and Oceania, and one species is also found in the Americas as an invasive species. About 80 species are recognized. Monitor lizards have long necks, powerful tails and claws, and well-developed limbs. The adult length of extant species ranges from in some species, to over in the case of the Komodo dragon, though the extinct varanid known as megalania (''Varanus priscus'') may have been capable of reaching lengths more than . Most monitor species are terrestrial, but arboreal and semiaquatic monitors are also known. While most monitor lizards are carnivorous, eating eggs, smaller reptiles, fish, birds, insects, and small mammals, some also eat fruit and vegetation, depending on where they live. Distribution The various species cover a vast area, occurring through Africa, the Indian subcontinent, to China, the Ryukyu Islands in southern Japan, s ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Department Of Environment, Water And Natural Resources (South Australia)
The Department for Environment and Water (DEW) is a department of the Government of South Australia. Created on 1 July 2012 by the merger of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources and the Department for Water as the Department of Environment, Water and Natural Resources (DEWNR), it was given its present name on 22 March 2018. It is responsible for ensuring that South Australia's natural resources are managed productively and sustainably, while improving the condition and resilience of the state's natural environment. Origins History of the environment portfolio in South Australia #On 23 December 1971, a new department called the ''Department of Environment and Conservation'' was created by the amalgamation of the ''Museum Department'' and the ''State Planning Office'' which was part of the ''Department of the Premier and of Development''. #On 18 December 1975, the ''Department of Environment and Conservation'' was renamed as the ''Department for the Environment' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Painted Desert (Arizona)
The Painted Desert is a United States desert of badlands in the Four Corners area, (cited by ) running from near the east end of Grand Canyon National Park and southeast into Petrified Forest National Park. It is most easily accessed from the north portion of Petrified Forest National Park. The Painted Desert is known for its brilliant and varied colors: these include the more common red rock, but also shades of lavender. History The Painted Desert was named by a Spanish expedition under Francisco Vázquez de Coronado during his 1540 quest to find the Seven Cities of Cibola. He located these some east of Petrified Forest National Park. Finding the cities were not made of gold, Coronado sent an expedition to find the Colorado River to gain supplies. Passing through the wonderland of colors, they named the area ''El Desierto Pintado'' ("The Painted Desert"). Much of the Painted Desert within Petrified Forest National Park is protected as Petrified Forest National Wilderness A ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
