Bungle Bungles
“I’d visited these beehivelike cone karst formations in WA’s Kimberley before, but this perspective, from a helicopter just after storms had hit the area, was next level.
The Bungle Bungles began life as an ancient riverbed of sandstone deposited in layers, compressed, uplifted and then worked over millions of years by the combined actions of erosion, biology and climate. The darker layers have a higher clay content that retains moisture and supports a surface layer of cyanobacteria, which protects the underlying rock from erosion. Oxidation of iron deposits within the sandstone results in the rusty orange colouration. It’s now 30 years since the Bungle Bungles have been protected within Purnululu National Park.
The site was assigned World Heritage status in 2003.”