| LOCALITY |
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CONTINENTAL MAP |
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REGIONAL MAP |
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To be added |
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LOCAL IMAGES |
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Images courtesy of Col Grant,
Brisbane |
| Sturt Stony Desert |
Sturt Stony Desert |
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MAP REFERENCES |
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Gason and Kopperamanna topographic and geological
1:250,000 sheets. |
| SAMPLE SATELLITE/AERIAL IMAGE |
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To be added |
| SAMPLE MARS SATELLITE IMAGE |
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To be added |
| IMAGE REFERENCES |
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| Sturt(s) Stony Desert |
| DESIGNATION |
| Australia-SA_NE-Sturt |
| LONGITUDE |
| 138°40'E |
| LATITUDE |
| 28°20'S |
| LOCALITY AND OWNERSHIP |
| Birdsville track to east of Lake Eyre. Pastoral Leases. |
| ACCESS |
| Along Birdsville track between Maree and Birdsville. This is
probably best regarded as a 4WD track. The various homesteads will have
air strips. |
| LOCAL CONTACTS |
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| NEAREST SERVICES |
| Maree |
| RISKS |
| The terrain posses little hazard, except along the edges of
the breakaways and of being bogged in the dunes. The remoteness is a
hazard, and the area should not be visited without two vehicles and
appropriate supplies of water food, and good communications and emergency
procedures. The nearest hospital is at Leigh Creek, The risk factors are
medium-high, increasing with distance away from the Birdsville track. |
| GEOLOGY |
| The geology of the area is complex. Gently deformed and
duricrusted Cretaceous Bulldog shale of marine origin form the gibber
plain uplands of the Stony desert. Eocene and Miocene fluvial and
lacustrine sediments have also been weathered and duricrusted, forming
breakaways. The area is cut by several major ephemeral streams, including
Coopers Creek, and the desert is flanked by the dunefields of the
Strezleki desert. There is considerable geological interest in the area
because of the record of surface environments in the Eyre basin over the
past 40 million years, and the famous silcrete floras and mammalian
megafauna. Despite this the area is poorly studied. Almost nothing has
been published on the regolith and geomorphological history of the Stony
desert itself. Flowing hot artesian wells along the track have deposited
locally extensive sinters. The potential for new geological research is
high. |
| CLIMATE |
| Arid, driest part of Australia. Nearest BOM Weather Station:
Moomba |
| FLORA AND FAUNA |
| The flora and fauna in this arid area is sparse and typical
of the region. The potential of the flowing hot artesian wells as an
environment for extremophiles is unexplored. |
| HISTORY |
| The area was first explored in the 19th century by Strezleki,
Sturt, and Eyre. Subsequently there has been sparse use by pastoralists,
aided by development of groundwater resources in the Great Artesian Basin.
The Birdsville track was originally developed as a stock route and then
upgraded as an access road for the Moomba oil and gas fields. The track
has becoming increasingly popular as an overland route between Queensland
and South Australia for trekkers and 4WD enthusiasts. |
| ANALOGUE VALUE |
| The complex interrelationship of lacustrine, fluvial, and
aeolian sediments and variable development of duricrusts offer good
scientific analogues for Mars, although the prevalence of carbonate and
sulphate soils and sediments may not be. The gibber plains, breakaways,
channels, and dunes provide a good terrain for marsupial tests, and some
parts, owing to sparse vegetation, are probably among the best for visual
analogues. Overall rating very high. |
| REFERENCES |
- Alley, N. F. 1998. Cainozoic stratigraphy, palaeoenvironments and
geological evolution of the Lake Eyre Basin. Palaeogeography,
Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 144: 239-263. The most recent
compendium on the environmental evolution of the region.
- Callan, R. F., Dalhunty, J. D., Lange, R. T., Plane, M., Tedford, R.
H., Wells, R. T., Williams, D. L. G. 1986. The Lake Eyre Basin -
Cainozoic Sediments, fossil vertebrates and plants, silcretes and
climatic implications. Australasian Sedimentologists Group Field Guide
Series 4. Geological Society of Australia. A very useful compendium
of the geology of the lake Eyre basin. The locality guides are
however, along the southern part.
- Sampson, L. 1996. The Great Artesian Basin well rehabilitation
program 1977095. MESA Journal 3:26-28. Brief description of the
uncapped Artesian wells, some very hot, along the Birdsville
TrackWilliams, A. F. 1975. Gason 1:250,000 geological explanatory
notes. Geological Survey of South Australia.
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