Picture Perfect - Magical

 

Picture Perfect 2008/#18

Theme : Magical

Camera : Canon IXUS i

Date Taken : 2004 Jun

Does this look like a kangaroo ?

This is one of Australia's most fascinating, magical areas - the Pinnacles Desert.
 

Thousands of huge limestone pillars rise from the shifting yellow sands, resembling a landscape from a science fiction movie.
 

Although the formation of the Pinnacles would have taken many thousands (probably 6,000) of years, but they remained relatively unknown until the 1960s, when the area was added to Nambung National Park, near the town of Cervantes, Western Australia.

The Pinnacles are limestone formations.
 

The raw material for the limestone of the Pinnacles came from seashells which were broken down into lime rich sands, which were carried inland by natural wind pattern to form high mobile dunes.
 

Rain caused the lime to seep to the bottom of the dunes, where it stuck together and formed limestone.
 

Small plants began growing on top of the dunes, protecting the dunes from being blown away again by the wind.  This also helped to create an acidic layer of soil over the top of the dune, which further contributed to the leaching of the lime from the soil
 

A layer of calcrete formed over the soft limestone under the dunes.

Cracks in the calcrete are exploited by plant roots. The softer limestone continues to dissolve.
 

Quartz sand fills the channels that form. Vegetation on top of the dune dies and winds blow away the sand covering the eroded limestone, thus revealing the Pinnacles.
 

Over time, the limestone spires will no doubt be covered again by other sand drifts and the cycle repeated, creating weird, magical and wonderful shapes over and over again.

 

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