Palm Valley, within the

Finke Gorge National Park Finke Gorge National Park is a protected area in the Northern Territory of Australia located about south of the territory capital of Darwin City, Northern Territory, Darwin. The national park covers an area of , and includes the impressive deser ...

, is an east-west running valley in the Krichauff Range 123 km (138 km by road) southwest of Alice Springs in the

Northern Territory 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 ...

, Australia. Palm Valley and the surrounding area is the only place in Central Australia where Red Cabbage Palms ('' Livistona mariae'') survive. The nearest specimens are 850 kilometres away in Queensland. The surrounding region is largely dry Central Ranges xeric scrub. The average rainfall for Palm Valley is only 200 mm per year. Although the gorge usually appears dry, there are some small pockets of semi-permanent spring-fed pools that allow the unique flora in this region to survive. During significant rainfall in the region, expanses of water can be witnessed flowing through the valley gorge. During such events, a variety of aquatic life such as desert fish, shield shrimps (''

Triops australiensis ''Triops australiensis'', sometimes referred to as a shield shrimp, is an Australian species of the tadpole shrimp ''Triops''. Distribution ''Triops australiensis'' has a wide distribution across Australia, excluding the northernmost parts of W ...

''), tadpoles and frogs can flourish.

Origins of the palms

It had been assumed that the cabbage palms were remnants of a prehistoric time when the climate supported tropical rainforest in what is now the arid inland of Australia. Genetic analysis published in 2012 determined that '' Livistona mariae'' at Palm Valley is actually the same species as '' Livistona rigida'' from samples collected near

Katherine Katherine, also spelled Catherine, and other variations are feminine names. They are popular in Christian countries because of their derivation from the name of one of the first Christian saints, Catherine of Alexandria. In the early Christ ...

and

Mount Isa Mount Isa ( ) is a city in the Gulf Country region of Queensland, Australia. It came into existence because of the vast mineral deposits found in the area. Mount Isa Mines (MIM) is one of the most productive single mines in world history, base ...

, both around away. The research by Professor David Bowman and colleagues at the

University of Tasmania The University of Tasmania (UTAS) is a public research university, primarily located in Tasmania, Australia. Founded in 1890, it is Australia's fourth oldest university. Christ College, one of the university's residential colleges, first prop ...

concluded that the populations separated only about 15,000 years ago. Aboriginal legend recorded in 1894 by Carl Strehlow describes "gods from the north" bringing the seeds to Palm Valley.

Getting there

In early 1928,

Herbert Joseph Larkin Herbert Joseph Larkin, (8 October 1894 – 10 June 1972) was an Australian flying ace of the First World War credited with 11 confirmed victories. Postwar, he became a pioneering aviator and aircraft manufacturer in Australia. He served in the Ro ...

led an exploratory aerial expedition exploring the possibility of developing the Palm Valley into a resort. However, the exploration led to naught. The track to Palm Valley is still only accessible with a

four-wheel drive Four-wheel drive, also called 4×4 ("four by four") or 4WD, refers to a two-axled vehicle drivetrain capable of providing torque to all of its wheels simultaneously. It may be full-time or on-demand, and is typically linked via a transfer cas ...

vehicle. It departs from the town of

Hermannsburg Hermannsburg is a village and a former municipality in the Celle district, in Lower Saxony, Germany. Since 1 January 2015 it is part of the municipality Südheide. It has been a state-recognised resort town since 1971. It is situated on the riv ...

and travels south, following the usually dry bed of the Finke River. Palm Creek flows into the Finke River from the west about 15 km (by track) south of Hermannsburg. The track follows the creek to Palm Valley about 5 km west of the Finke River.

Gas field

The Palm Valley gas field is an onshore source of natural gas north of the valley itself. The gas field is part of the

Amadeus Basin The Amadeus Basin is a large (~170,000 km2) intracratonic sedimentary basin in central Australia, lying mostly within the southern Northern Territory, but extending into the state of Western Australia. Origins The Amadeus Basin is named ...

and supplies gas to Alice Springs and beyond via the

Amadeus Gas Pipeline The Amadeus Gas Pipeline is a bi-directional natural gas pipeline running north–south through the Northern Territory of Australia. Its southern extent is the Amadeus Basin gas fields west of Alice Springs. The Amadeus pipeline is owned and ope ...

References

External links

Fairfax Digital - Hermannsburg
Valleys of Australia Canyons and gorges in the Northern Territory Natural gas fields in Australia {{NorthernTerritory-geo-stub