Page 44 - Super Earth Encyclopedia

SACRED

MOUNTAIN

ULURU

Lying at the very heart of Australia, Uluru rises like
an island above a vast expanse of desert sand, forming
the continent’s most famous natural landmark. It is the
exposed end of a layered bed of sandstone which
has been bent upright by the titanic forces that build
mountains. Most of Uluru’s immense bulk lies below
ground. The rock is very hard, but it has been eroded
into rounded forms by desert storms that send water
cascading down its gullies to the plain below.

FORMIDABLE FORMATIONS

AT A GLANCE

• LOCATION Central Australia
• HEIGHT 1,142 ft (348 m) above
the surrounding ground level
• FORMATION An inselberg (island
mountain) eroded by flash floods
• AGE The sandstone of Uluru is more

than 530 million years old

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