Karlu Karlu / Devils Marbles Conservation Reserve is a

protected area Protected areas or conservation areas are locations which receive protection because of their recognized natural, ecological or cultural values. There are several kinds of protected areas, which vary by level of protection depending on the ena ...

in the

Northern Territory The Northern Territory (commonly abbreviated as NT; formally the Northern Territory of Australia) is an states and territories of Australia, Australian territory in the central and central northern regions of Australia. The Northern Territory ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

located in the locality of

Warumungu The Warumungu (or Warramunga) are a group of Aboriginal Australians of the Northern Territory. Today, Warumungu are mainly concentrated in the region of Tennant Creek and Alice Springs. Language Their language is Warumungu, belonging to the ...

about south of

Tennant Creek Tennant Creek ( wrm, Jurnkkurakurr) is town located in the Northern Territory of Australia. It is the seventh largest town in the Northern Territory, and is located on the Stuart Highway, just south of the intersection with the western termin ...

, and north of

Alice Springs Alice Springs ( aer, Mparntwe) is the third-largest town in the Northern Territory of Australia. Known as Stuart until 31 August 1933, the name Alice Springs was given by surveyor William Whitfield Mills after Alice, Lady Todd (''née'' Al ...

. The nearest settlement is the small town of Wauchope located to the south. The Devils Marbles are of great cultural and spiritual significance to the

Aboriginal Aborigine, aborigine or aboriginal may refer to: *Aborigines (mythology), in Roman mythology * Indigenous peoples, general term for ethnic groups who are the earliest known inhabitants of an area *One of several groups of indigenous peoples, see ...

traditional owner Native title is the designation given to the common law doctrine of Aboriginal title in Australia, which is the recognition by Australian law that Indigenous Australians (both Aboriginal Australian and Torres Strait Islander people) have rights ...

s of the land, and the reserve protects one of the oldest religious sites in the world as well as the natural rock formations found there. ''Karlu Karlu'' is the local Aboriginal term for both the rock features and the surrounding area. The Aboriginal term translates as "round boulders" and refers to the large boulders found mainly in the western side of the reserve. The English name for the boulders derives from a quote by John Ross during the 1870

Australian Overland Telegraph Line The Australian Overland Telegraph Line was a telegraphy system to send messages over long distances using cables and electric signals. It spanned between Darwin, in what is now the Northern Territory of Australia, and Adelaide, the capital o ...

expedition, where he said "This is the Devil’s country; he’s even emptied his bag of marbles around the place!" The area was originally named Devils Marbles Reserve in October 1961. The name was changed to ''Devil's Marbles Conservation Reserve'' on 21 September 1979 under the ''Territory Parks and Wildlife Conservation Act''. In 1980, the conservation reserve was listed on the now-defunct

Register of the National Estate The Register of the National Estate was a heritage register that listed natural and cultural heritage places in Australia that was closed in 2007. Phasing out began in 2003, when the Australian National Heritage List and the Commonwealth Heritag ...

. In 1982, almost the entire reserve was registered as a sacred site by the

Aboriginal Areas Protection Authority The Aboriginal Areas Protection Authority (AAPA) is an independent statutory authority established under the ''Northern Territory Aboriginal Sacred Sites Act 1989''. Its function is to protect Aboriginal sacred sites within the Northern Territory ...

. Ownership of Karlu Karlu/Devils Marbles was officially passed from the Parks and Wildlife Service of the Northern Territory back to the traditional owners at a ceremony held on the reserve in October 2008. The reserve is now leased back to the Parks Service under a 99-year lease and the site is jointly managed by rangers and traditional owners. Visitor access has not been affected, making it an

Indigenous Protected Area An Indigenous Protected Area (IPA) is a class of protected area used in Australia; each is formed by voluntary agreement with Indigenous Australians, and declared by Aboriginal Australians and Torres Strait Islander representative organisations ...

. On 6 July 2011, the name ''Karlu Karlu / Devils Marbles Conservation Reserve'' was assigned, corresponding with the joint management structure.

Features

The ''Devils Marbles'' are large

granitic A granitoid is a generic term for a diverse category of coarse-grained igneous rocks that consist predominantly of quartz, plagioclase, and alkali feldspar. Granitoids range from plagioclase-rich tonalites to alkali-rich syenites and from quart ...

boulders that form the exposed top layer of an extensive and mostly underground granite formation. The natural processes of

weathering Weathering is the deterioration of rocks, soils and minerals as well as wood and artificial materials through contact with water, atmospheric gases, and biological organisms. Weathering occurs ''in situ'' (on site, with little or no movement), ...

and

erosion Erosion is the action of surface processes (such as water flow or wind) that removes soil, rock, or dissolved material from one location on the Earth's crust, and then transports it to another location where it is deposited. Erosion is distin ...

have created the various shapes of the boulders. Some of the boulders are naturally but precariously

balanced In telecommunications and professional audio, a balanced line or balanced signal pair is a circuit consisting of two conductors of the same type, both of which have equal impedances along their lengths and equal impedances to ground and to other ...

atop one another or on larger rock formations, while others have been split cleanly down the middle by natural forces. The boulders are situated in a wide and shallow desert valley, and are found in scattered groups mainly in the western side of the reserve. A short access road leads directly into the boulder fields from the

Stuart Highway Stuart Highway is a major Australia, Australian highway. It runs from Darwin, Northern Territory, Darwin, in the Northern Territory, via Tennant Creek and Alice Springs, to Port Augusta in South Australia; a distance of . Its northern and sou ...

. Being one of the most widely recognised symbols of Australia’s outback, the Devils Marbles are also one of the most visited reserves/places in the Northern Territory. The Parks and Wildlife Service recorded 96,172 visitors in 2007. The visitation count increased to 137,500 by 2012. The peak season is in the cooler months from May to August. The reserve is one of the main tourist attractions in the

Barkly region The Barkly Region, formerly Barkly Shire, is a local government area of the Northern Territory of Australia, administered by the Barkly Regional Council. The region's main town is Tennant Creek. The region covers an area of and had a populati ...

since it is easily seen and accessed just off the Stuart Highway, the major north/south road connecting Darwin and Alice Springs, and points further south. The Devils Marbles are accessible all year round with a network of pathways, information boards and a basic camping area. Rangers offer a program of live events at the site as part of their ''Territory Parks Alive'' program between May and September each year.

Aboriginal significance

Karlu Karlu are culturally and spiritually significant objects of the local Aboriginal people. Most of the conservation reserve is a Registered Sacred Site, protected under the ''

Northern Territory Aboriginal Sacred Sites Act 1989 The Aboriginal Areas Protection Authority (AAPA) is an independent statutory authority established under the ''Northern Territory Aboriginal Sacred Sites Act 1989''. Its function is to protect Aboriginal sacred sites within the Northern Territory ...

''. Although Karlu Karlu is within country originally belonging to the

Alyawarre The Alyawarre, also spelt Alyawarr and also known as the Iliaura, are an Aboriginal Australian people, or language group, from the Northern Territory. The Alyawarre are made up of roughly 1,200 associated peoples and actively engage in local tra ...

people, all of the other local Aboriginal groups, which include the Kaytetye,

and Warlpiri people, also have spiritual connections and responsibilities for the area. Accounts of local Aboriginal people believing the boulders to be eggs of the mythical Rainbow Serpent are incorrect. In reality, a number of traditional Dreaming stories (none of which are about serpents) have Karlu Karlu as their setting, hence its great importance as a sacred site. These stories are alive and well and are passed on from generation to generation of

traditional owners Native title is the designation given to the common law doctrine of Aboriginal title in Australia, which is the recognition by Australian law that Indigenous Australians (both Aboriginal Australian and Torres Strait Islander people) have rights ...

. Only a handful of stories are considered suitable to tell to uninitiated visitors. One of the main Dreaming stories for the area which can be told to the public relates to how Karlu Karlu was created. This tradition tells of ''

Arrange Arrange is a mythological figure from the Australian aboriginal creation myth of the Alyawarre people for Karlu Karlu. In the myth, the figure Arrange, who is also referred to as the devil man, comes from Ayleparrarntenhe. Arrange was making a ...

'', the Devil Man, who came from a hill nearby and travelled through the area. Whilst walking along, Arrange made a hair-string belt which is a kind of traditional adornment worn only by initiated men. As he was twirling the hair to make strings, he dropped clusters of hair on the ground. The clusters turned into the big red boulders at Karlu Karlu that have become so famous today. On his way back to his hill, Arrange spat on the ground. His spit turned into the granite boulders in the central part of the reserve. Arrange finally returned to his place of origin, a hill called ''

Ayleparrarntenhe Ayleparrarntenhe is a twin-peaked hill east of the Devil's Marbles Conservation Reserve in the Northern Territory of Australia. It is the mythological home of Arrange, a mythological figure of the Alyawarre people. Arrange is part of the creati ...

'' where he remains today.

Formation

The Devils Marbles constitute a degraded nubbin. The formation is made of

granite Granite () is a coarse-grained (phaneritic) intrusive igneous rock composed mostly of quartz, alkali feldspar, and plagioclase. It forms from magma with a high content of silica and alkali metal oxides that slowly cools and solidifies undergro ...

and are part of the top layer of a formation which penetrates the ground from below, like little geological islands in the

desert A desert is a barren area of landscape where little precipitation occurs and, consequently, living conditions are hostile for plant and animal life. The lack of vegetation exposes the unprotected surface of the ground to denudation. About on ...

, surrounded by large amounts of

sandstone Sandstone is a clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate grains. Sandstones comprise about 20–25% of all sedimentary rocks. Most sandstone is composed of quartz or feldspar (both silicates) ...

. The granite was formed millions of years ago as a result of the hardening of

magma Magma () is the molten or semi-molten natural material from which all igneous rocks are formed. Magma is found beneath the surface of the Earth, and evidence of magmatism has also been discovered on other terrestrial planets and some natural sa ...

within the Earth's crust. Thick layers of sandstone on top of the granite exerted extreme downward pressure on the granite. After some time,

tectonic Tectonics (; ) are the processes that control the structure and properties of the Earth's crust and its evolution through time. These include the processes of mountain building, the growth and behavior of the strong, old cores of continents k ...

forces caused folding of the Earth's crust in the area, which lifted the granite and fractured the sandstone, allowing the granite to come closer to the surface. As the pressure diminished, the granite expanded causing cracks to form, and then the larger formations began to separate into big, square blocks. The next phase of the formation of the Marbles started when the blocks were exposed to

water Water (chemical formula ) is an inorganic, transparent, tasteless, odorless, and nearly colorless chemical substance, which is the main constituent of Earth's hydrosphere and the fluids of all known living organisms (in which it acts as a ...

. The surface of the blocks began to decay under the influence of the water and a layer of loose material surrounded the individual blocks. When the blocks came to the surface completely, the loose material was

eroded Erosion is the action of surface processes (such as Surface runoff, water flow or wind) that removes soil, Rock (geology), rock, or dissolved material from one location on the Earth's crust#Crust, Earth's crust, and then sediment transport, tra ...

away by water and wind. The rounding of the granite blocks is a result of

chemical A chemical substance is a form of matter having constant chemical composition and characteristic properties. Some references add that chemical substance cannot be separated into its constituent elements by physical separation methods, i.e., wi ...

and physical (also called mechanical) weathering. Chemical processes cause the surface of the blocks to expand and contract, resulting in thin layers of rock coming off the boulder in a process called exfoliation. This process rounds the granite block because the chemical processes have more effect on areas with edges. The rock begins to look like it is made of layers like an

onion An onion (''Allium cepa'' L., from Latin ''cepa'' meaning "onion"), also known as the bulb onion or common onion, is a vegetable that is the most widely cultivated species of the genus ''Allium''. The shallot is a botanical variety of the onion ...

. Only the outer few centimetres are affected by chemical weathering in a process called

spheroidal weathering Spheroidal weathering is a form of chemical weathering that affects jointed bedrock and results in the formation of concentric or spherical layers of highly decayed rock within weathered bedrock that is known as '' saprolite.'' When saprolit ...

. The boulders are affected more deeply by the extreme temperature differences between day and night in the arid desert region where the reserve is located. During daylight hours the rocks expand slightly and after nightfall they contract slightly, repeating the process every 24 hours. These repeated cycles of expansion and contraction, called thermal stress weathering, create cracks which sometimes go so deep that the boulder is completely split in half.

Controversy

One of the boulders was removed from the reserve in 1952 and taken to

to form a memorial to John Flynn, the founder of the

Royal Flying Doctor Service The Royal Flying Doctor Service (RFDS), commonly known as the Flying Doctor, is an air medical service in Australia. It is a non-profit organisation that provides emergency and primary health care services for those living in rural, remote an ...

. The boulder was chosen as a symbol of his link to the

outback The Outback is a remote, vast, sparsely populated area of Australia. The Outback is more remote than the bush. While often envisaged as being arid, the Outback regions extend from the northern to southern Australian coastlines and encompass a n ...

, but it became the source of a lengthy controversy. The boulder had unwittingly been removed from a sacred site of the Aboriginal women of the area. Eventually, after more than 45 years of negotiations, a boulder swap was arranged and the sacred boulder was removed from the grave and returned to its original place on 4 September 1999. The grave is now marked with a similar but non-sacred boulder donated by the

Arrernte Arrernte (also spelt Aranda, etc.) is a descriptor related to a group of Aboriginal Australian peoples from Central Australia. It may refer to: * Arrernte (area), land controlled by the Arrernte Council (?) * Arrernte people, Aboriginal Australi ...

people.

References

External links