|
The Flinders Ranges are the largest mountain range in South Australia, which starts about north of Adelaide.〔 The discontinuous ranges stretch for over from Port Pirie to Lake Callabonna.〔 Its most characteristic landmark is Wilpena Pound, a large, sickle-shaped, natural amphitheatre that covers ,〔 and contains the range's highest peak, St Mary Peak (〔) that adjoins the Flinders Ranges National Park. The northern ranges are protected by the Arkaroola wilderness sanctuary and the Vulkathunha-Gammon Ranges National Park. The southern ranges are notable for the Pichi Richi scenic railway and Mount Remarkable National Park. Several small areas in the Flinders Ranges have protected area status. These include the Flinders Ranges National Park near Wilpena Pound, the Mount Remarkable National Park in the southern part of the ranges near Melrose, the Arkaroola Protection Area at the northern end of the ranges, The Dutchmans Stern Conservation Park, west of Quorn and the Mount Brown Conservation Park, south of Quorn. The Heysen Trail and Mawson Trail run for several hundred kilometres along the ranges providing scenic long distance routes for walkers, cyclists and horse-riders. ==Geology== The Flinders Ranges are largely composed of folded and faulted sediments of the Adelaide Geosyncline. This very thick sequence of sediments were deposited in a large basin during the Neoproterozoic on the passive margin of the ancient continent of Gondwana. During the Cambrian, about 540 million years ago, the area underwent the Delamerian orogeny where the geosynclinal sequence was folded and faulted into a large mountain range. Since this time the area has undergone erosion resulting in the relatively low ranges today. Most of the high ground and ridgetops in the Flinders are sequences of quartzites that outcrop along strike. The high walls of Wilpena Pound are formed by the outcropping beds of the eponymous Pound Quartzite in a synclinal structure. The same formation forms many of the other high parts of the Flinders, including the high plateau of the Gammon Ranges and the Heysen Range. Cuesta forms are also very common in the Flinders. The Ranges are particularly renowned for the Ediacara Hills, South-west of Leigh Creek. This was the site of discovery in 1946 of some of the oldest fossil evidence of animal life. Since then similar fossils have been found in many other parts of the ranges, though their locations are a closely kept secret due to the risk of sites being desecrated. In 2004 a new geological period, the Ediacaran Period was formed to mark the appearance of Ediacara biota. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Flinders Ranges」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
|