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
Shire of Cook
The Shire of Cook (The Shire) is a local government area in Far North Queensland, Australia. The Shire covers most of the eastern and central parts of Cape York Peninsula, the most northerly section of the Australian mainland.
It covers an area ...
,
Queensland
)
, nickname = Sunshine State
, image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg
, map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia
, subdivision_type = Country
, subdivision_name = Australia
, established_title = Before federation
, established_ ...
, Australia.Black Mountain National Park Register of the National Estate.
Geography
The park is 25 km south west of
Cooktown
Cooktown is a coastal town and locality in the Shire of Cook, Queensland, Australia. Cooktown is at the mouth of the Endeavour River, on Cape York Peninsula in Far North Queensland where James Cook beached his ship, the Endeavour, for repairs ...
. It is managed and protected as a
national park
A national park is a nature park, natural park in use for conservation (ethic), conservation purposes, created and protected by national governments. Often it is a reserve of natural, semi-natural, or developed land that a sovereign state dec ...
under the
Nature Conservation Act 1992
The ''Nature Conservation Act 1992'' is an act of the Parliament of Queensland, Australia, that, together with subordinate legislation, provides for the legislative protection of Queensland's threatened biota.
As originally published, it prov ...
.
The main feature of the park is the mass of granite boulders, some the size of houses. The absence of soil between the boulders and rocks create a maze of gaps and passages, which can be used to penetrate inside the mountain. These rocks can become extremely hot.
The area has a bad reputation as numerous people and those searching for the missing have disappeared without trace. The
Mulligan Highway
The Mulligan Highway is a state highway in Queensland, Australia. It runs for approximately 266 km between Mareeba and Cooktown, on the east coast of Cape York Peninsula
Cape York Peninsula is a large peninsula located in Far North Q ...
marks the western border of the park.
Natural history
The national park’s distinctive hard black boulders (often termed
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 range are composed of the igneous felsic intrusive Trevethan
Granodiorite
Granodiorite () is a coarse-grained (phaneritic) intrusive igneous rock similar to granite, but containing more plagioclase feldspar than orthoclase feldspar.
The term banatite is sometimes used informally for various rocks ranging from gra ...
which is predominantly a white to grey, medium-grained, porphyritic
biotite
Biotite is a common group of phyllosilicate minerals within the mica group, with the approximate chemical formula . It is primarily a solid-solution series between the iron-endmember annite, and the magnesium-endmember phlogopite; more alumino ...
monzogranite
Monzogranites are biotite granite rocks that are considered to be the final fractionation product of magma. Monzogranites are characteristically felsic (SiO2 > 73%, and FeO + MgO + TiO2 < 2.4), weakly
Permian
The Permian ( ) is a geologic period and stratigraphic system which spans 47 million years from the end of the Carboniferous Period million years ago (Mya), to the beginning of the Triassic Period 251.9 Mya. It is the last period of the Paleoz ...
and has been dated from 259.1 to 251.902 million years old. The Trevethan Granodiorite was originally magma that slowly solidified under the earths crust.
The softer land surfaces above the solidified magma eroded away over time, leaving the magma's fractured top to be exposed as a mountain of grey granite boulders blackened by a film of microscopic blue-green algae growing on the exposed surfaces. Colder rains falling on the dark, heated granite boulders causes the boulders to progressively fracture, break, and slowly disintegrate, sometimes explosively.
Cultural history
Kalkajaka ("Black Mountain") is a heavily significant feature of the
Kuku Nyungkal people
The Kuku Nyungkal people (or Annan River Tribe) are a group of Australian Aborigines, Aboriginal Australians who are the original custodians of the coastal mountain slopes, Wet Tropics of Queensland, wet tropical forests, waters, and waterfalls ...
's
cultural landscape
Cultural landscape is a term used in the fields of geography, ecology, and heritage studies, to describe a symbiosis of human activity and environment. As defined by the World Heritage Committee, it is the "cultural properties hatrepresent the co ...
. Kalkajaka translates to "place of the spear".
Queensland's Department of Environment and Natural Resources has been advised of at least four sites of particular
mythological
Myth is a folklore genre consisting of narratives that play a fundamental role in a society, such as foundational tales or origin myths. Since "myth" is widely used to imply that a story is not objectively true, the identification of a narrat ...
significance within the area as follows:
''There are at least four sites of religious or mythological significance on the mountain. These are the Kambi, a large rock with a cave where flying-foxes are found; Julbanu, a big grey kangaroo-shaped rock looking toward Cooktown; Birmba, a stone facing toward Helenvale where sulphur-crested cockatoos are seen; and a taboo place called Yirrmbal near the foot of the range.''
Kalkajaka also features strongly in local, more non-Aboriginal cultural landscapes, some of which has also been described by Queensland's Department of Environment and Resource Management as follows:
''When European colonists arrived late last century, they added to the many Aboriginal legends of the area with a few of their own. Stories abound of people, horses and whole mobs of cattle disappearing into the labyrinth of rocks, never to be seen again''
It is believed that those who vanished most probably fell into one of the chasms under the rocks or after entering one of these places became lost. It is estimated only three in ten would survive such falls, wandering below the Earth's surface with only ground water streams and insects to nourish them. A minority group is referred to by colonists as the Outback Moles (perhaps in reference to New York's underground population).
Ecology
The park's mountains are located at the northernmost end of the
Wet Tropics World Heritage Area
The Wet Tropics of Queensland World Heritage Site consists of approximately 8,940 km2 of Australian wet tropical forests growing along the north-east Queensland portion of the Great Dividing Range. The Wet Tropics of Queensland meets all f ...
, where world heritage listed wet tropical forests meet drier
savanna
A savanna or savannah is a mixed woodland-grassland (i.e. grassy woodland) ecosystem characterised by the trees being sufficiently widely spaced so that the canopy does not close. The open canopy allows sufficient light to reach the ground to ...
woodlands - making it a natural refuge for once more widespread, now isolated
relict
A relict is a surviving remnant of a natural phenomenon.
Biology
A relict (or relic) is an organism that at an earlier time was abundant in a large area but now occurs at only one or a few small areas.
Geology and geomorphology
In geology, a r ...
fauna.
Queensland's Department of Environment and Resource Management advises, for instance, the relatively small, unusual "Black Mountain" environment is the world's only habitat for at least three animals: the Black Mountain boulderfrog or rock haunting frog (''
Cophixalus saxatilis
The Black Mountain boulder frog (''Cophixalus saxatilis''), also known as the rock haunting frog or the Black Mountain rainforest frog, is a species of frog in the family Microhylidae.
It is endemic to Australia, and its populations are now rest ...
''); the Black Mountain skink (''
Carlia scirtetis
The Black Mountain rainbow-skink (''Liburnascincus scirtetis'') is an endemic species that inhabits a total of on Kalkajaka in Queensland
)
, nickname = Sunshine State
, image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg
, map_caption = Location of ...
''); and the Black Mountain gecko (''
Nactus galgajuga
''Nactus galgajuga'', also known as the Black Mountain gecko or Black Mountain slender-toed gecko is a species of lizard in the family Gekkonidae. It is endemic to Queensland
)
, nickname = Sunshine State
, image_map = Queensland in Austra ...
''). This makes the area one of Australia's most restricted habitats for endemic fauna.
Facilities
Camping is not permitted in the park. There are no walking tracks and no facilities for picnics. There is a viewing platform that features interpretive displays.
Gallery
File:Black Mountain2.jpg, Kalkajaka in the Kalkajaka National Park near Cooktown, Queensland, Australia.
File:091209 Kalkajaka01.jpg, View of one of the black mountains from Mulligan Highway
See also
*
Protected areas of Queensland
Queensland is the second largest state in Australia. It contains around 500 separate protected areas. In 2020, it was estimated a total of 14.2 million hectares or 8.25% of Queensland's landmass was protected.
List of terrestrial protected are ...
*
Kuku Nyungkal people
The Kuku Nyungkal people (or Annan River Tribe) are a group of Australian Aborigines, Aboriginal Australians who are the original custodians of the coastal mountain slopes, Wet Tropics of Queensland, wet tropical forests, waters, and waterfalls ...