Uluru National Park Essay, Research Paper

Uluru National Park, is national park in the Northern Territory. The park lies approx. 478km away from Alice Springs. The area was established as Ayers Rock/Mount Olga National Park in 1958 and renamed Uluru National Park in 1977. In 1985 the land was officially returned to, the region s Aborigines. The Aborigines leased the area to the Australian National Parks and Wildlife Service. The park was placed on the World Heritage List in 1987. The parks two main geological features are Uluru (Ayers Rock) 32 km to the west is Kata Tjuta (Olga Rocks) a grouping of rock domes. Significant points of interest are Maggie s Springs, Kangaroo Tail, The Climb and The Brain. There is an entrance fee to enter the Uluru National Park and professional photographers will need a permit in advance to take pictures or to film.

Uluru is one of the world s better known landmarks. William Gosse named it Ayers Rock in 1873 after Henry Ayers, who was then the governor general at the time. Uluru is the largest monolith in the world at 348 m above the desert floor. It has a circumference of about 9 km. It s composed of arkosic sandstone, Uluru is particularly spectacular at sunset, it appears that it changes it s colour to purple. Uluru was an island in a lake about 70 million years ago. The domes at Kata Tjuta are made of conglomerate rock. Aboriginal rock paintings cover the walls of many of the caves of Uluru. Both sites also figure in Aboriginal legend. Uluru National Park draws about 650,000 visitors a year. The park has about 360 species of plants and 20 species of native mammals. The area, 126,132 hectares.

Kata Tjuta- Aboriginal for place of many heads rises steeply from the surrounding plains and peaks in round tops. The highest peak is Mount Olga, which rises 546m from its base on the plain. The group is spread over an area with a circumference of about 22-km and is made of red cemented conglomerate, a mixture of different kinds of gravel. The troughs between individual peaks can store water. This allows for vegetation in its dry climate. Mount Olga was named in honor of Queen Olga of W rttemberg in 1872 by British explorer Ernest Giles.

There is a lot to enjoy in the park including astounding views, photography. Climbing to the top of Ayers Rock is a challenge, which most would like to conquer but is no longer available. Walks around the base of the rock are popular and so are tours through the Valley of the Winds at Mt. Olga. Vantage points have been constructed throughout the park with impressive views of the park. Camping on the park grounds is not allowed. The park rangers regularly run tours through the parks. The popularity of Uluru rose when the Yulara resort was completed in 1984 along with an airport and other facilities.

Technically, Uluru and Kata Tjuta are the relics of a huge bed of sedimentary rock now almost completely covered by debris from erosion and by wind-blown sand. There are 36 domes of Kata Tjuta. It is thought that once they were a single dome that was many times the size of Uluru.

So far people have discovered 22 mammals, 150 different types of birds, many reptiles and frogs as well as nearly 400 plant species. In 1987 the Park was inscribed to the United Nations World Heritage List. It is also one of twelve Australian Biosphere Reserves.

Visitors come to the rock via Alice Springs, 280 miles (450 km) northeast by road. The buildings of the tourist resort near Ayers Rock are coloured to blend in with the surrounding desert.