The Nullarbor Plain in southern Australia, once home to a massive ancient ocean, hides many mysteries. It stretches for over a thousand kilometers and is now a scrubby desert on limestone bedrock. Recent discovery tries to shed light upon the plain’s past.
Thought to be featureless, the broad, semi-arid plain may not be as dull as once believed. Read out below for all the intriguing details.
What Does the Australian Desert Hide?
A strange reef found in Australia’s vast desert leaves researchers in awe.
An ancient landform that resembles a coral reef or a portion of one has been discovered by an international team of researchers via satellite data under the direction of geologist Matej Lipar (Slovenian Academy of Sciences and Arts). It’s definitely a curious case, but it might also unveil some secrets.
And things are about to get better.
More interesting, this reef-like landform may be the earliest depositional structure ever found on the plain. It comprises a circular raised ring about 4,256 feet (1,300 meters) wide and a dome in the middle. How impressive!
Check out the picture below of the reef-like structure:
The ring-shaped ‘hill’ cannot be explained by extra-terrestrial impact or any known deformation processes, but preserves original microbial textures and features typically found in the modern Great Barrier Reef, explained geologist Milo Barham of Curtin University in Australia.
Nowadays, Australia is arid, with enormous interior deserts. However, looking back some millions of years ago, during the Miocene period, the continent was filled with life, even vast seas, and dense forest ecosystems.
More precisely, around 14 million years ago, the ocean that had covered Nullarbor began to disappear, revealing the shallow-water limestones formed throughout the middle Cenozoic.
And that’s not all.
According to other findings, hardly much has changed on Nullarbor. There haven’t been any notable upheavals or big sediment depositions that have produced mountain ranges or other geological features.
Take a look at the satellite image showing the reef-like structure:
Researchers will most likely continue their work to reveal more information in the future!