The Garden Of Eden
The sandstone of Kings Canyon is like a giant sponge that soaks up the rain. Moisture seeping from the rock has turned this deep gully into a lush oasis.
It's a refuge for rare and relict plants that have survived from a time when Central Australia was wetter and rivers ran regularly.
Water is Life
Kapi-nguru Wanka Nyinanyi
Here in the desert, waterholes such as the Garden of Eden have always been an important source of life for plants' animals and people.
Geology of the area
This ancient landscape has evolved over hundreds of millions of years, featuring remarkable geological formations that date back 440 million years. The area was once covered in tropical woodlands, some of which remain in the Garden of Eden on the canyon floor. The red stone of King’s Canyon is Mereenie Sandstone. The sedimentary rock was formed in a sand dune environment and is very porous. Meerine Sandstone is the most important water bearing rock in Central Australia. Water falling as rain on the stone seeps into the rock and down to an impervious layer of impermeable shale forming a water reservoir. The geological elevation processes left behind a valley with vertical sandstone walls. In periods of rain, the porous sandstone saves the water like a sponge, so it oozes slowly down to the bottom of the gorge, found in the moist crevices many plants and animals shelter.
Now to log this cache you need some answers.
1. The canyon is made up of two types of sandstone with a layer of shale in between. Name the two types of sandstone?
2. Describe the grain size of the Mereenie sandstone. Can you see pores between the grains? What is the size of the pores?
3. (Optional) Please add a photo of you and/or the group at the Garden of Eden.
(no back dateing finds plz) Please no backdating so if you were there before the publish date i will not accept a find. If you want to try and log it before the date i will delete the log. Please msg me through the caching page not email me. If you enjoyed urself feel free to give it a fav point