Karlu Karlu / Devils Marbles Conservation Reserve is a protected area in the Northern Territory of Australia located in the locality of Warumungu The hamlet of Wycliffe Well is located to the south.

The Devils Marbles are of great cultural and spiritual significance to the Aboriginal traditional owners of the land, and the reserve protects one of the oldest religious sites in the world as well as the natural rock formations found there. Karlu Karlu is the local Aboriginal term for both the rock features and the surrounding area. The Aboriginal term translates as "round boulders" and refers to the large boulders found mainly in the western side of the reserve. In 1982, almost the entire reserve was registered as a sacred site by the Aboriginal Areas Protection Authority. The visitation count increased to 137,500 by 2012. The formation is made of granite and part of the top layer of a formation which penetrates the ground from below, like little geological islands in the desert, surrounded by large amounts of sandstone. The granite was formed millions of years ago as a result of the hardening of magma within the Earth's crust. Thick layers of sandstone on top of the granite exerted extreme downward pressure on the granite. After some time, tectonic forces caused folding of the Earth's crust in the area, which lifted the granite and fractured the sandstone, allowing the granite to come closer to the surface. As the pressure diminished, the granite expanded causing cracks to form, and then the larger formations began to separate into big, square blocks.

The next phase of the formation of the Marbles started when the blocks were exposed to water.

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Controversy

thumb|right|John Flynn's Memorial with the replacement boulder, Alice Springs, 2002

One of the boulders was removed from the reserve in 1952 and taken to Alice Springs to form a memorial to John Flynn, the founder of the Royal Flying Doctor Service. The boulder was chosen as a symbol of his link to the outback, but it became the source of a lengthy controversy. The boulder had unwittingly been removed from a sacred site of the Aboriginal women of the area. Eventually, after more than 45 years of negotiations, a boulder swap was arranged and the sacred boulder was removed from the grave and returned to its original place on 4 September 1999. The grave is now marked with a similar but non-sacred boulder donated by the Arrernte people.

For more information see: John Flynn's Grave Historical Reserve (Alice Springs).

Historic images

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File:Dowling 051.jpg|Karlu Karlu between 1938 and 1948

File:Jessie May Gunn 023.tif|Karlu Karlu in 1946

File:Jessie May Gunn 024.tif|Karlu Karlu in 1946

File:Jessie May Gunn 025.tif|Karlu Karlu in 1946

File:Jessie May Gunn 026.tif|Karlu Karlu in 1946

File:Jessie May Gunn 027.tif|Karlu Karlu in 1946

File:Jessie May Gunn 029.tif|The Stuart Highway running nearby to Karlu Karlu in 1946

File:Jessie May Gunn 042.tif|Karlu Karlu in 1946

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See also

  • Chambers Pillar
  • Ewaninga Rock Carvings Conservation Reserve
  • Henbury Meteorites Conservation Reserve
  • Rainbow Valley Conservation Reserve
  • Uluṟu-Kata Tjuṯa National Park
  • Watarrka National Park
  • West MacDonnell National Park

References

  • Official site
  • Similar rocks in the antipodes (Spain)