A197, Geikie Gorge National Park, Western Australia, Fitzroy River, 2007

The Napier Ranges are located in the Kimberley region of

Western Australia Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to th ...

. The range is south of and runs parallel to the

Wunaamin-Miliwundi Ranges The Wunaamin Miliwundi Ranges (formerly between 1879 and 2020, the King Leopold Ranges) are a range of hills in the western Kimberley region of Western Australia. There are two conservation parks within the ranges, the Wunaamin Conservation P ...

(formerly King Leopold Ranges). The majority of the Kimberley is composed 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) ...

but the Napier Range is mostly made from heavily eroded

limestone Limestone ( calcium carbonate ) is a type of carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of . Limestone forms whe ...

, or

karst Karst is a topography formed from the dissolution of soluble rocks such as limestone, dolomite, and gypsum. It is characterized by underground drainage systems with sinkholes and caves. It has also been documented for more weathering-resistant ro ...

, with the ridges composed of an ancient

Devonian The Devonian ( ) is a geologic period and system of the Paleozoic era, spanning 60.3 million years from the end of the Silurian, million years ago (Mya), to the beginning of the Carboniferous, Mya. It is named after Devon, England, whe ...

reef system. They feature the impressive Windjana Gorge and Tunnel Creek and Geikie Gorge that were formed over 350 million years ago as part of the same limestone reef. The Fitzroy River cuts through the range at

Geikie Gorge Geikie Gorge (known locally as Darngku) is a feature of the Napier Range and is located within the grounds of Danggu Gorge National Park (formerly, Geikie Gorge National Park), from Fitzroy Crossing, northeast of Perth and east of Broome ...

, while the

Lennard River Lennard River is a river in the Kimberley region of Western Australia. The river was named on 8 June 1879 by the explorer Alexander Forrest, during an expedition in the Kimberley area, after Amy Eliza Barrett-Lennard (1852-1897), who he was to ...

is responsible for the formation of Windjana Gorge. The

Barker River The Barker River is a river in the Kimberley region of Western Australia. The headwaters of the river rise north of Mount Matthew and then flow in a southerly direction through Barker Gorge before discharging into the Lennard River, of which ...

also carved Barker gorge through the range. The highest point in the Napier Range is Mount Behm that is above sea level. The ranges were made famous by

Jandamarra Jandamarra or Tjandamurra (c. 1873—1 April 1897), known to European settlers as Pigeon,
in: Taylor (2004) w ...

, who was the subject of a massive police hunt and caused the construction of the Lillimilura police outpost which is on the southern side of the ranges approximately four kilometres from Windjana. Some small deposits of

copper Copper is a chemical element with the symbol Cu (from la, cuprum) and atomic number 29. It is a soft, malleable, and ductile metal with very high thermal and electrical conductivity. A freshly exposed surface of pure copper has a pinkis ...

and

lead Lead is a chemical element with the symbol Pb (from the Latin ) and atomic number 82. It is a heavy metal that is denser than most common materials. Lead is soft and malleable, and also has a relatively low melting point. When freshly cu ...

have been discovered in the Range but no active mine sites exist within the area. A major expedition was carried out through the Range in 1988 by the

Royal Geographical Society The Royal Geographical Society (with the Institute of British Geographers), often shortened to RGS, is a learned society and professional body for geography based in the United Kingdom. Founded in 1830 for the advancement of geographical scien ...

and the

Linnaean Society The Linnean Society of London is a learned society dedicated to the study and dissemination of information concerning natural history, evolution, and taxonomy. It possesses several important biological specimen, manuscript and literature colle ...

involving 30 scientists. The scientists were studying the

biology Biology is the scientific study of life. It is a natural science with a broad scope but has several unifying themes that tie it together as a single, coherent field. For instance, all organisms are made up of cells that process hereditary i ...

and

geomorphology Geomorphology (from Ancient Greek: , ', "earth"; , ', "form"; and , ', "study") is the scientific study of the origin and evolution of topographic and bathymetric features created by physical, chemical or biological processes operating at or n ...

of the Range.

References

External links

Jandamarra
{{coord, 17, 18, S, 124, 45, E, region:AU-WA_type:mountain_source:GNS-enwiki, display=title Mountain ranges of Western Australia Kimberley (Western Australia)