Linear dunes near Santa Teresa seen from the air on our Quantas flight
in to Alice Springs, showing very Titan-like deviation
by mountain ridges. It was this phenomenon that drew us to the area
|
The Gosses Bluff impact structure, 200km west of Alice Springs. A circular wall of mountains is the remnant of uplifted strata
|
Shatter cone at Gosses Bluff with my foot for scale. (This striated
surface is quite characteristic of large impacts - see some pictures
from Canada on my main web page
|
Self-portrait near the center of the Gosses Bluff structure. Note the
near-vertical bedding in the rocks behind me caused by the uplift of
the strata beneath the crater (the crater itself has been long eroded
away)
|
Heroic Planetary Scientists in the field (photo by Chris Thorburn)
near Santa Teresa, about 200km southeast of Alice Springs. These
shallow (and now vegetated) linear dunes squeeze through gaps in
the ridge on which we are standing
|
Chris and Chris (from National Geographic) filming Jani. You
fortunately can't see all the flies, which were quite distracting.
|
Linear dunes meandering as they peter out towards the ridge. The role
of wind flow over the ridge, versus possible removal of sand by
occasional streamflow at the base of the ridge, remains to be determined.
|
These tracks are either from a velociraptor (and there are noises at night in the outback that make you think of Jurassic Park...) or perhaps a kangaroo (photo: Jani)
|
View of the rim of one of the Henbury craters. There are about a dozen
craters, some tens of meters across : the area bears comparison with the Odessa impact area in Texas.
|
Upturned beds at the rim, supporting the impact origin (many meteorite fragments have also been recovered in the area).
|
Remarkably a couple of the craters at Henbury have rays of blocky
ejecta.
|
I try my kite-cam at Henbury (photo: Jani)
|
Uluru (Ayers Rock) - a sandstone remnant.
|
Uluru takes on dramatic colors at sunset
|
The only affordable accommodation at Uluru was dorms at the Pioneer
Lodge. Their budget dining was fun - $28 for skewers of kangaroo
and crocodile, an emu sausage, and a couple of franks. They provide
grills for you to cook them yourself.
|
Tourists ascend Uluru, like ants (photo: Jani)
|
Glutes and quads in action as I start the steep ascent (photo: Jani)
|
340 vertical meters and 40 minutes later we make it to the summit
|
Uluru and me - note the cavernous weathering and pitting along the beds (photo:Jani)
|
In Coober Pedy, Opal mining capital of the world, we stayed in an
underground hotel (a former opal mine)
|
Trevor of the Old Timers Mine demonstrates extreme aeolian transportation:
a large diesel-powered 'blower' sucks the dirt away during opal mining
operations - rocks are being pulled out of Jani's hands.
|
A linear dune beyond a clay pan, east of Coober Pedy. Our trusty Toyota Outlander in the foreground
|
Edge of Lake Eyre. Wind can cause the waterline to move appreciably
since the lakebed, and the water itself, is so shallow. (photo: Jani)
|
Cute self-organized patterns in the salts crystallizing out of the mud
at the edge of Lake Eyre
|
Terraced sediments show that the lake has been higher in the past
|
Our pilot (Tiania - when not flying at William Creek, she does
shark-spotting over beaches near Adelaide) with Jani and the Cessna
|
Linear dunes from the air.
|
Near Lake Eyre, some of the 'linear' dunes appear more as chains
of crescentic dunes (photo: Jani)
|
Lake Eyre from the air. Note the mirror-like edge of the lake, presumably
where the water is so shallow that capillary waves are suppressed.
|
At the northeast edge of Lake Eyre, linear dunes encroach (or are
encroached upon by) the lake. This is something we do not see at
Titan...
|
40km out of William Creek we blew a tire. Jani deftly jacks up the vehicle - luckily we could limp
back on our half-sized spare and get it replaced.
|
Not a repairable flat... A snip to replace at $330 in William Creek, but there was hardly an alternative - nearest sealed roads and proper towns were 200km away (NB even with the 0-deductible rental insurance,
windshield and tire damage is not covered :-[ )
|
Ralph with the Black Arrow, possibly the worlds most aesthetically
pleasing satellite launch vehicle, at Woomera.
|
After the last leg of the 2000 mile drive, the sun set at the
beach in Adelaide, and we flew back to Melbourne for the
Geomorphology conference.
|