Bungle Bungles Facts For Kids: Explore More On Purnululu National Park

One of the most popular symbols of the Kimberley region is the Bungle Bungles range located in Purnululu National Park.

The Bungle Bungle range is a World Heritage-listed site in the Purnululu National Park, and only after 1983 have people from all over the world come to know of its existence. The Bungle Bungle range is easily recognized with its distinctive beehive-shaped towers made of conglomerates and sandstone.

It is a major component of the Purnululu National Park. Along with sandstone, the structure is made of rocks composed of pebbles and boulders and then cemented together by some finer material.

These formations seen in Purnululu National Park were deposited into the Red Basin around 350 million years back when the landscape was being altered by active faults.

The domes were shaped by rainfall and the wind from the Tanami desert over millions of years. The rounded rock formations have unusual orange and dark grey banding, which is formed due to the differences in the layers of sandstone.

For over 20,000 years, local Aboriginal people have been living in the area and still have a strong connection with the ancient landscape. Karjaganujaru people are the traditional owners of the area.

The Western Australian Department of Environment and Conservation manages Purnululu National Park today with the help of the traditional Aboriginal owners. Only after filmmakers arrived at the location and filmed a documentary about the Kimberley region did the range and the rock formations come to the notice of the outside world.

The information about the range was limited to local Aborigines and stockmen before that. The area of the national park was made into a World Heritage Area in 2003 and into a national park in 1987.

If you want to explore the scenic Bungle Bungles, just go on a flight across the towering domes, see the flow of the sun during different times of the day, and check out the network of narrow gorges running along the mountain range twisting and turning. It's one of the most fascinating and unusual landforms in Australia.

The astonishing maze of curious orange and black striped beehive-shaped domes formed during the Devonian period and has a number of cave paintings in the mountain caverns and caves.

What is Bungle Bungles?

The Bungle Bungles is a group of large striped rock formations found in Australia.

There are many towers and rounded cones made up of sandstone that have been made by wind and water over time. It is also called the Bungle Bungle range.

The Bungle Bungles are the center of attraction in Purnululu National Park, which received UNESCO World Heritage site status. The national park is situated on the Kimberley region's eastern edge in Western Australia. It is around 155 mi (250 km) south of Kununurra, a town in Australia.

The black and orange bands make this range one to visit in a lifetime. You can also drive from Halls Creek, which is an amazing experience.

Bungle Bungles Geographic Location

The Bungle Bungles are located in Purnululu National Park in Western Australia.

The range is mostly composed of sandstone and is fragile and soft. However, the grains are linked with each other.

The range is 175 sq mi (450 sq km) of land. The land inside the park has sandstone formations of different shapes and is often seen as giant beehives.

The domed rocks were formed by sand dunes and gravel from the eroding mountain ranges. It is similarly shaped like sand dunes too. The range is located about 155 mi (250 km) south of the town of Kununurra in Australia.

You can access the park using Spring Creek Track from the Great Northern Highway. This track is about 33 mi (53 km) long and can only be used in the dry season.

The area was given the status of a national park in 1987 and was given World Heritage site status in 2003.

Formation History Of Bungle Bungles

The Bungle Bungle range, popularly known as Bungle Bungles, is an astonishing model of a formation called sandstone cone karst.

It took millions of years to form the Bungle Bungles. Some 360 million years ago, in the Devonian period, the sediments that formed the sandstone were laid by a river.

The river continued flowing and, with it, carried gravel and sand. The water from the river reached a low-lying basin. All the sediments that the river carried were deposited here.

The sediments deposited grew as layers built up. The position and landscape of the river changed, and the gravel and sand deposits were now surrounded by other sediments.

It was then compressed by the load and formed sandstone and conglomerate. A conglomerate is a sedimentary rock made from rounded rock formations.

The land was uplifted in the eastern Kimberley region of the national park, which might be due to the collision of two continental plates. The layers were eroded, which eventually covered the sandstone.

Around 20 million years ago, the beehive domes started forming when the running water from streams started to wear away the sandstone from the joints in the rock.

The rock was soft and eroded easily. The sandstone was also weathered by rain and wind.

The Kija Aboriginal people who lived here for more than 20,000 years called the area Purnululu, which means sandstone in their Kija language. This mountain range has always been significant for them.

You can easily find Aboriginal burial places and rock art on mountain caverns within the national park. Until the '80s, the area was unknown to most Australians, except the local Aboriginal people. A television crew who wanted to make a documentary about Western Australia discovered the area during aerial surveillance.

You can also take a flight to check the sandstone with black and orange stripes for a different view. You can take helicopters from Halls Creek or from Kununurra.

Physical Features Of Bungle Bungles

Did you know the black stripes and orange stripes in the formation are due to black lichen and orange silica?

The rocks in this range are striped naturally, and you will see horizontal orange bands along with gray or black stripes. These orange layers get their rusty coloration from iron oxide.

This can be found on the surface of the sandstone. The darker bands get their color from the large colonies of single-celled microbes that are known to live on the surface of the rock.

The name of these microbes is cyanobacteria. These are one of the oldest forms of life in the world and help stabilize the soft sandstone. It also protects it from weathering and erosion.

They do not live on the orange parts as it is too dry for them to survive. The mountain ranges are home to many endemic species of flora and fauna, including some species of wallabies and palm trees.

There are semi-arid grasslands surrounding the range and beautiful palm trees. You will also see pools and waterfalls in the rainy season. The highest of the rocks rises around 820 ft (250 m) above the ground. There are passageways through the maze-like formations of the range, past the cliffs, caves, and beehive domes.

The rock formations are known to glow in the dark. The range is seen on the plains fringing the eastern Kimberley region.

There are many layers of dolomite and stacks of ancient seabeds throughout the range. Satellite images show a 4.3 mi (7 km) diameter circular topographic feature in the area.

It is believed that this range is the eroded remnant of a very old meteorite impact crater called the Piccaninny crater. You will see many rounded cones and towers made of sandstone that have been created by water and wind.

You can visit the park during the peak season. It remains closed during the wet season starting December until April. Most people take the flight route to see these magnificent creations from nature. The road takes a scenic route too.

FAQs

Q: Why are the Bungle Bungles special?

A: The Bungle Bungles are most famous for their banded domes. These domes were formed 360 million years ago due to the sandstone deposits. The domes were carved because of the erosion caused by rivers and weathering over the past 20 million years.

Q: How old are the Bungle Bungles?

A: The formation of the Bungle Bungles is traced back to at least 350 million years.

Q: How tall are the Bungle Bungles?

A: The Bungle Bungles are around 650-980 ft (200-300 m) tall.

Q: What was discovered at the Bungle Bungles?

A: The beehive-shaped domes or towers were discovered at the Bungle Bungles.

Q: How long does it take to get from Perth to the Bungle Bungles?

A: The distance from Perth to the Bungle Bungles is around 1,770 mi (2,850 km) and takes anywhere between 32-40 hours to get there by road.

Q: Are there crocodiles in the Bungle Bungles?

A: You don't have to worry about crocodiles in the area. In the past, only one crocodile was spotted in the creeks, however, there are no records of more of these animals being present.