The Devils Marbles Formation

Many of them seem impossibly balanced on top of each other just like the two marbles in the famous picture.

The devils marbles formation.

The devils marbles are called karlu karlu in alyawarre pronounced al yow worrah a local aboriginal language. Standing at up to 6 metres high and formed over millions of years they continue to crack and change. The marbles have been formed over millions of years by the act of erosion and rise up out of the desert scenery in a surreal display of granite kind of like a natural art exhibition. A sacred aboriginal site.

Located near the geology gifted town of natural bridge virginia the devil s marbleyard is a jumbled morass of refrigerator car and bus sized boulders strewn over eight acres on the side of a mountain. The devils marbles are made of large granitic boulders which were formed millions of years ago as a result of the hardening of magma within the earth s crust the natural processes of weathering and erosion have created the various shapes of the boulders. An ancient aboriginal meeting point naming the devils marbles. What are the devils marbles and how were they formed.

The devils marbles or karlu karlu as they are known by the local warumungu aboriginals are a collection of huge red rounded granite boulders. Alyawarre kayteye warumunga and warlpiri people. The formation of the devils marbles are a result of the erosion of the sandstone on top of granite which was formed millions of years ago due to the hardening of magma within the earth s crust which the marbles are made up of. Actually they vary in size from 50 cm up to six metres across and they are strewn across a large area.

The devils marbles are large granitic boulders that form the exposed top layer of an extensive and mostly underground granite formation. The marbleyard is a unique geological feature that can best be described as a huge rock field with boulders ranging from the size of coffee tables to those of large vans. The devils marbles are located within the karlu karlu devils marbles conservation reserve. When i see fields of boulders i think glaciers.

The natural processes of weathering and erosion have created the various shapes of the boulders. The devils marbles are a collection of massive granite boulders strewn across a valley south of tennant creek. It s the meeting place of four different language groups. The marbles is not just significant to alyawarre people.

These impressive granite boulders are peppered around a sprawling valley about 100 kilometres to the south of tennant creek. The devil s marbleyard is a 3 mile hike located in the james river face wilderness area as part of the belfast trail.