Geomorphology of Uluru, Australia

A famous and well known Australian inselberg,1 Uluru,2 is an interesting geological feature in that its geomorphology is still a matter of controversy among conventional geologists. Traditionally, Uluru’s stratigraphical history began hundreds of millions of years ago, being fashioned into its current contour only as recently as between 60 million years ago until the present. The process by which Uluru’s shape came into relief tends to be understood in terms of a two-stage weathering then subsequent erosion process. This paper will seek to show that problems with the current hypotheses must force the interpreter into another direction. A three-stage process is proposed here. Phase one assumes a cataclysmic mega-flood which initially deposits the Uluru sandstone. Phase two is tied closely to phase one, but involves the regressional nature of this flood which rapidly etches out ancestral Uluru’s basic form. Phase three invokes the reality of a tropical climate and large volumes of precipitation that culminate in the formation of a vast inland lake. Water processes associated with this lake etch out a suite of features on Uluru’s surface, which until the present have been interpreted as sub-surface weathering fronts.