What type of landform is Wave Rock in Australia?
curved granite cliff face
Wave Rock is in the wheat belt region of Western Australia, 350 km south-east of Perth. It is a curved granite cliff face, actually the northern face of a large granite erosional remnant called Hyden Rock.
What caused wave rocks to form?
Beneath the fields of eroded bits and pieces, the remaining rock was weathered into domes beneath the ground. Erosion, over a vast expanse of time, exposed the granite domes to the surface, and the structure we now call Wave Rock began to form.
How was Australia rock formed?
Around 500 million years ago, the whole area became covered in sea. Sand and mud fell to the bottom and covered the seabed, including these fans. The weight of the new seabed turned the fans into rock. The sandy fan became sandstone (Uluru) while the rocky fan became conglomerate rock (Kata Tjuta).
What is the name of the rock formation in Australia?
Rising dramatically from the Central Australian desert, the huge red rock of Uluru is one of Australia’s most iconic attractions. Formerly known as Ayers Rock, Uluru is made of sandstone about half a billion years old.
When and how was the wave rock formed?
Wave Rock is about 45 feet (14 meters) high and 360 feet (110 meters) long. The cliff was formed by weathering and erosion over millions of years. It is a type of rock formation known as a flared slope. Wave Rock is the northern face of a larger outcrop of granite named Hyden Rock, which is about 2.7 billion years old.
How was the wave formed?
Waves are most commonly caused by wind. Wind-driven waves, or surface waves, are created by the friction between wind and surface water. As wind blows across the surface of the ocean or a lake, the continual disturbance creates a wave crest.
Where is Wave Rock found?
Hyden
Wave Rock, near the Wheatbelt town of Hyden, is one of Australia’s most recognisable landforms. Rising 15 metres from the ground and more than 100 metres long, Wave Rock looks like a giant surf wave of multicoloured granite about to crash onto the bush below.
When was Wave Rock discovered?
The 2.7 billion year old, 110m-long slab of naturally eroded rock captured the world’s attention in the 1960s, when a photograph of it was published in National Geographic magazine.
Where is the wave rock?
Why is Wave Rock special?
Wave Rock is a granite inselberg that has been weathered over millions of years by wind and rainwater. These forces of erosion have slowly swept the rock into the deep grey, red, ochre and sandy-striped wave you see today. The colours of the rock are amazing and are caused by minerals being washed down the rock.