![Mount Conner, August 2003](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/6b/Mount_Conner%2C_August_2003.jpg)
Mount Conner, also known as Atila, Artilla, or Fool-uru, is a
mountain
A mountain is an elevated portion of the Earth's crust, generally with steep sides that show significant exposed bedrock. Although definitions vary, a mountain may differ from a plateau in having a limited Summit (topography), summit area, and ...
located in the southwest corner of the
Northern Territory of Australia
The Northern Territory (commonly abbreviated as NT; formally the Northern Territory of Australia) is an Australian territory in the central and central northern regions of Australia. The Northern Territory shares its borders with Western Aust ...
, southeast of
Lake Amadeus
Lake Amadeus (together with Lake Neale, Pitjantjatjara: ''Pantu'' ("salt lakes")) is a large salt lake in the southwest corner of Northern Territory of Australia, about north of Uluru. The smaller Lake Neale is adjacent to the northwest. It ...
, in the locality of
Petermann.
It lies within the
Curtin Springs cattle station in
Pitjantjatjara
The Pitjantjatjara (; or ) are an Aboriginal people of the Central Australian desert near Uluru. They are closely related to the Yankunytjatjara and Ngaanyatjarra and their languages are, to a large extent, mutually intelligible (all are vari ...
country, close to the site of the
Kungkarangkalpa
Australian Aboriginal astronomy is a name given to Aboriginal Australian culture relating to astronomical subjects – such as the Sun and Moon, the stars, planets, and the Milky Way, and their motions on the sky.
Traditional Aboriginal c ...
(Seven Sisters)
Dreaming.
Its height reaches above sea level and above ground level.
Geology
The sides of Mount Conner are blanketed by
scree
Scree is a collection of broken rock fragments at the base of a cliff or other steep rocky mass that has accumulated through periodic rockfall. Landforms associated with these materials are often called talus deposits. Talus deposits typically ha ...
(talus) and its top is blanketed by
colluvium
Colluvium (also colluvial material or colluvial soil) is a general name for loose, unconsolidated sediments that have been deposited at the base of hillslopes by either rainwash, sheetwash, slow continuous downslope creep, or a variable combinatio ...
. The base of Mount Conner is surrounded by
alluvium
Alluvium (from Latin ''alluvius'', from ''alluere'' 'to wash against') is loose clay, silt, sand, or gravel that has been deposited by running water in a stream bed, on a floodplain, in an alluvial fan or beach, or in similar settings. Alluv ...
.
[Young, DN, N Duncan, A Camacho, PA Ferenczi, and TLA Madigan (2002a) ''Ayers Rock, SG 52-8 map, 1:250 000 Geological Series (Second Edition), Northern Territory Geological Survey.'' scale 1:250 000, Darwin, Northern Territory Geological Survey, Australia.][Young, DN, N Duncan, A Camacho, PA Ferenczi, and TLA Madigan (2002b) ''Ayers Rock, SG 52-8 Explanatory Text, 1:250 000 Geological Series (Second Edition).'' scale 1:250 000, Darwin, Northern Territory Geological Survey, Australia.][Edgoose, CJ (2012) ''The Amadeus Basin, central Australia.'' Episodes. 35(1):257-263.]
The summit of Mount Conner, along with the summits of low domes in the Kata Tjuta complex and summit levels of Uluru, is an erosional remnant of a
Cretaceous
The Cretaceous ( ) is a geological period that lasted from about 145 to 66 million years ago (Mya). It is the third and final period of the Mesozoic Era, as well as the longest. At around 79 million years, it is the longest geological period of th ...
geomorphic surface. It is considered to be a classic example of an
inselberg
An inselberg or monadnock () is an isolated rock hill, knob, ridge, or small mountain that rises abruptly from a gently sloping or virtually level surrounding plain.
In Southern Africa a similar formation of granite is known as a koppie, a ...
created by erosion of surrounding strata.
[ Twidale, C.R. (2007) ''Ancient Australian Landscapes.'' Rosenberg Publishing, Kenthurst, New South Wales. 144 pp.]
See also
*
List of mountains of the Northern Territory
This is a list of mountains in Australia.
Highest points by state and territory
List of mountains in Australia by topographic prominence
This is a list of the top 50 mountains in Australia ranked by topographic prominence. Most of these ...
References
Additional sources
*
*
*
Further reading
*{{cite book , url=https://geoscience.nt.gov.au/gemis/ntgsjspui/handle/1/81571 , title=A Guide to the Geology and Landforms of Central Australia , publisher=Northern Territory Geological Survey , location=Alice Springs , first=R B , last=Thompson , year=1995 , isbn=0-7245-2527-0
Conner, Mount