Man in the Moon Crater

Shoemaker Crater is about 100 kilometres north-east of Wiluna.

This impact crater was formed some time between 500mya and 1.6bya, depending on which source you believe. At that time there were no plants, no animals and no fungi – only stromatolites. A very different planet from today. A 2600 metres wide asteroid hit outback Western Australia at a speed of 65,000 kilometres per hour, creating a 30 kilometres wide impact that was identified as an impact crater in 1974.

It is estimated that the resulting explosion was the equivalent of 784 megatons (about 15 x larger than Tsar Bomba – the largest nuclear bomb ever detonated) and generated an 8.5 magnitude earthquake. The heat and thermal radiation would have destroyed any lifeforms  for a 500 kilometre radius.

The crater was named after Eugene Shoemaker (1928-1997) a renowned US planetary geologist who was killed in a vehicle crash on the Tanami Track in the Northern Territory. His ashes were on the Lunar Prospector when it was deliberately crashed into Mawson Crater near the South Pole of the moon in July 1999. The International Astronomical Union then renamed the crater as Shoemaker Crater.

 

© Kim Epton 2022-2024
219 words, one photograph.

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Breakaways

Breakaways are a notable feature of inland Western Australia. In what is one of the oldest geographical regions on Earth, the Yilgarn Block, softer soils have gradually eroded through the repeated action of wind and water. Only those areas with a hard laterite (ironstone/granite) top have resisted this reshaping erosion.

Where the crust of these laterite layers has crumbled the hard top remains to form a ‘mesa’ while the continuing erosion of the surrounding softer soil and rock forms a steep ‘breakaway’.

The magnificent colours often seen in breakaways are a consequence of varying soil types with laterites giving the rusty reds and shales and sandstones the softer yellows and whites.

 

© Kim Epton 2016-2024
153 words, one photographs.

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Shipping Containers Disguised as Water Tanks

Travel any distance in the bush and you will come across one of more of these cube-shaped, rivetted iron water tanks.

However, they are not a purpose built water tank but were originally a ships’ tank used for transport of many varied items – the precursor to today’s ubiquitous shipping container.

Early settlers immediately saw the advantages of their size and sturdy construction, repurposing them as water tanks.

More information

 

© Kim Epton 2022-2024
119 words, one photograph.

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Gnammas

Don’t say gnamma hole

Although often used, the term ‘gnamma-hole’ is a tautology; the concept of ‘hole’ is already incorporated in the word ‘gnamma’.

The word ‘gnamma’ is from the Western Desert aboriginal language. The Nyungar word ‘nama’ has the same meaning.

What are they?

Gnammas are a peculiar type of hole that occur in rock outcrops, particularly granite. They usually have a small opening on the surface of the rock with a larger bowl shaped cavity beneath. They hold anything from a few litres to a thousand litres or more, although the larger holes are rare.

Gnammas are formed by eons of chemical weathering by water. It is suggested that some aboriginal groups started or enhanced gnammas by lighting fires on suitable rocks.

Gnammas are not a soak – they fill after rain. Aboriginals often covered them with sticks to prevent access by native animals. This had the bonus of minimising evaporation. Gnammas were vital to explorers and prospectors and are an important water source for all kinds of fauna.

A more recent practice is the insertion of a stick into the water that allows small animals and/or insects to exit the gnamma should they fall in.

In Darkest West Australia: A Guide To Out-back Travellers, H.G. Mason wrote:

In desert spinifex, gnamma holes and soaks may be found in patches of scrub mulga, which occur here and there throughout the interior, generally low-lying formations of granite and desert sandstone, clothed with weeds, silver grass and scattered small narrow-leafed salt bush with occasional quondong and kurrajong trees…

 

© Kim Epton 2015-2024
326 words, four photographs.

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Back

Place Names

The reports of the various trips, tours and travels on the Adventures website have a lot of information about place names – their naming and features – toponymy.

Accurate toponymy can a tell a story of a place’s discovery, its naming and why it was so named. If you like to find out about where you have been, where you are, and where you are going obviously you need to work with place names and names of features. Often, beyond the bald facts of a place or region, there is much attendant data in the toponymy that can enrich and preserve its culture. This toponymic information then flows over to Geographic Information Systems (GISs) – a discipline plagued with lies, deception and political correctness – fortunately the initial two are not seen so often in modern Australian toponymy/mapping.

This Information For The Aficcionados

Toponymy in Australia is the responsibility of the individual States. In Western Australia, Landgate reluctantly accepts the responsibility for this task, through the Geographic Names Committee. Place, feature and road names are stored in a database known as Geonoma,  however, because it is not accurately maintained, this resource is of declining value.

In 2011, the Geographic Names Committee produced a booklet titled Policies and Standards for Geographical Naming in Western Australia. A PDF of this may be accessed here. Additionally, the Committee for Geographical Names of Australasia has produced Guidelines for the Consistent Use of Place Name’, which may be accessed here.

Anyone may propose a new name for a feature or a correction of a name by contacting the Geographic Names Committee.  Providing one’s information is accurate and compelling, I know from personal experience of naming/renaming 24 features, the submission will be successful.

Time Travel

Reading the eyewitness accounts of Australian exploration history allows us to travel back in time.

Because naming of places and features is inextricably entwined with ‘history’ many of the articles on this website that include details of toponymy also provide a snapshot of another time. With only a small bit of imagination one can ‘time travel’ to when our nation was growing up.

 

 

© Kim Epton 2010-2024
396 words, one photograph.

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