Le desert des Pinnacles

A 300km au nord de Perth se trouve le désert des Pinnacles. Une grande étendue de sable avec plein de piliers de toutes les tailles.


Je n'ai pas le temps de faire la traduction, mais pour ceux que ca interesse, voila l'explication de la formation de ces roches (et ca vous fera un peu bosser votre anglais ! ;-) :
"The base material for the limestone came from sea shells which were broken-down into lime-rich sand. This sand was then blown inland by natural wind pattens, forming high sand dunes. Rain caused the lime to seep to the bottom of the dunes, where it stuck together and formed limestone. Small plants began growing on top of the dunes, protecting the dunes from being blown away again by the wind. This also helped to create an acidic layer of soil over the top of the dune, which further contributed to the leaching of the lime from the soil. A layer of calcrete formed over the soft limestone under the dunes. Small cracks in this hard layer allowed plants to send down deeper roots, which had the side-effect of allowing water to flow in also, gradually eroding the soft limestone beneath. This was replaced by quartz sand from the dune above. This continued until only columns of limestone that sat protected from the encroaching water remained. These columns were exposed when the vegetation on top of the dune died, allowing the wind to blow away the dune and sand between from between them."

Et au coucher du soleil, c'est encore plus joli !


Nous sommes en ce moment a Sydney, hebergees par Amelie et Benoit, et nous prenons plaisir a retrouver nos copains. Nous partons demain direction le Vanuatu, l'acces internet risque d'etre tres limite, mais on essayera de vous tenir au courant des que possible !