Editing Purnululu National Park (section)

== Purnululu National Park World Heritage Site ==

The World Heritage status of the region was created and negotiated in 2003, and the adopted boundary of the existing national park.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://whc.unesco.org/en/decisions/706|title=Purnululu National Park (Australia)|work=Committee Decisions|publisher=[[UNESCO]] World Heritage Convention|date=2003|access-date=30 August 2014}}</ref> Since its listing, the [[Government of Western Australia]] has reserved additional areas located adjacent to the World Heritage Area, including the Purnululu Conservation Park and the Ord River Regeneration Reserve.<ref name=whl /> The site was [[government gazette|gazetted]] on the [[Australian National Heritage List]] on 21 May 2007 under the {{Cite Legislation AU|Cth|act|eahlaa12003459|Environment and Heritage Legislation Amendment Act (No. 1), 2003}}.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.environment.gov.au/system/files/pages/758ea283-6b9d-41bc-a29a-1276e1c7fced/files/10568601.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140903135629/http://www.environment.gov.au/system/files/pages/758ea283-6b9d-41bc-a29a-1276e1c7fced/files/10568601.pdf |archive-date=2014-09-03 |url-status=live|type=PDF|title=Determination regarding including World Heritage places in the National Heritage List|work=[[Government gazette|Special government gazette]]|number=S.99|date=21 May 2007|access-date=30 August 2014|publisher=[[Department of the Environment (Australia)|Department of the Environment and Water Resources]], [[Commonwealth of Australia]]}}</ref>

=== Etymology ===
''Purnululu'' is a mispronounced [[Djaru language|Djaru]] word for the area around Bungle Bungle out camp, which is referred to as Bullmanlulu. The correct Karjaganujaru name for the Bungle Bungle massif is Billingjal which means sand falling away.<ref>Spoken by Djaru Traditional owner Bonnie Edwards</ref>

The [[traditional owners]] of the area are the [[Karjaganujaru]] peoples.<ref>Five Anthropologist proven its Djaru land</ref>

=== Features ===
The [[Bungle Bungle Range]], lying fully within the park, has elevations as high as {{convert|578|m}} [[Australian Height Datum|above sea level]]. It is famous for the sandstone domes, unusual and visually striking with their striping in alternating orange and grey bands. The banding of the domes is due to differences in clay content and porosity of the sandstone layers: the orange bands consist of oxidised [[iron]] compounds in layers that dry out too quickly for [[cyanobacteria]] to multiply; the grey bands are composed of cyanobacteria growing on the surface of layers of sandstone where moisture accumulates.

=== Geology ===
The Bungle Bungle Range is one of the most extensive and impressive occurrences of sandstone tower (or cone) [[karst]] terrain in the world. The Bungle Bungles were a plateau of [[Devonian]] sandstone,  carved into a mass of beehive-shaped towers with regularly alternating, dark gray bands of cyanobacterial crust (single cell photosynthetic organisms). The plateau is dissected by {{convert|100|-|200|m|adj=on}} deep, sheer-sided gorges and [[slot canyon]]s. The cone-towers are steep-sided, with an abrupt break of slope at the base and have domed summits. How they were formed is not yet completely understood.  Their surface is fragile but stabilized by crusts of [[iron oxide]] and bacteria. They provide an outstanding example of land formation by dissolutional weathering of sandstone, with removal of sand grains by wind, rain and sheet wash on slopes.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia|url=http://www.eoearth.org/view/article/155611/|title=Purnululu National Park, Australia|encyclopedia=[[Encyclopedia of Earth]]}}</ref>

=== Access ===
Access to the park by road is via Spring Creek Track, from the [[Great Northern Highway]] approximately {{convert|250|km}} south of Kununurra, to the track's end at the visitor centre. The track is {{convert|53|km}} long and is usable only in the dry season (about 1 April to 31 December) by [[four-wheel-drive]] vehicles. Safely navigating it takes approximately three hours. Access by air is less demanding; helicopter flights are available from Bellburn Airstrip<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://parks.dpaw.wa.gov.au/site/bellburn-airstrip|title=Bellburn Airstrip &#124; Explore Parks WA &#124; Parks and Wildlife Service}}</ref> in the national park, and from [[Warmun]] [[Roadhouse (facility)#Australia|roadhouse]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://stillaslife.com/travel/darwin-to-perth-day-3-kununurra-to-fitzroy-crossing/|title = Darwin to Perth Day 3 - Kununurra to Fitzroy Crossing &#124; Still as Life|date = 9 January 2017}}</ref> Scenic [[light aircraft]] flights are also available out of [[Kununurra, Western Australia|Kununurra]] and [[Lake Argyle]].