Black Mountain National Park
Encyclopedia
Black Mountain National Park is a 781 hectare protected area
in the Queensland
, (Australia
), 25 km south west of Cooktown
. It is managed and protected as a national park
under the Nature Conservation Act 1992
.
The main feature of the park is the mass of granite boulders, some the size of houses. Between the boulders and rocks is an absence of soil so that gaps penetrate inside the mountain. These rocks can become extremely hot.
The area has a bad reputation as numerous people and those searching for the missing have disappeared without trace. The Mulligan Highway
marks the western border of the park.
boulders and range originally formed out of magma
that first slowly solidified under the Earth's crust about 250 million years ago.
The softer land surfaces above the solidified magma eroded away over time, leaving the magma's fractured top to be exposed as a mountain of grey granite boulders blackened by a film of microscopic blue-green algae growing on the exposed surfaces. Colder rains falling on the dark, heated granite boulders causes the boulders to progressively fracture, break, and slowly disintegrate, sometimes explosively.
's cultural landscape
known locally to Aboriginal Australians
as Kalkajaka (trans: "place of spear').
Queensland's Department of Environment and Natural Resources has been advised of at least four sites of particular mythological
significance within the "Black Mountains" as follows:
The Black Mountains also features strongly in local, more non-Aboriginal cultural landscapes, some of which has also been described by Queensland's Department of Environment and Resource Management as follows:
It is believed that those who vanished most probably fell into one of the chasms under the rocks or after entering one of these places became lost.
, where world heritage listed wet tropical forests meet drier savanna
woodlands - making it a natural refuge for once more widespread, now isolated relict
fauna.
Queensland's Department of Environment and Resource Management advises, for instance, the relatively small, unusual "Black Mountain" environment is the world's only habitat for at least three animals: the Black Mountain boulderfrog or rock haunting frog (Cophixalus saxatilis); the Black Mountain skink (Carlia scirtetis
); and the Black Mountain gecko (Nactus galgajuga). This makes the area one of Australia's most restricted habitats for endemic fauna.
Protected area
Protected areas are locations which receive protection because of their recognised natural, ecological and/or cultural values. There are several kinds of protected areas, which vary by level of protection depending on the enabling laws of each country or the regulations of the international...
in the Queensland
Queensland
Queensland is a state of Australia, occupying the north-eastern section of the mainland continent. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Australia and New South Wales to the west, south-west and south respectively. To the east, Queensland is bordered by the Coral Sea and Pacific Ocean...
, (Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
), 25 km south west of Cooktown
Cooktown, Queensland
Cooktown is a small town located at the mouth of the Endeavour River, on Cape York Peninsula in Far North Queensland where James Cook beached his ship, the Endeavour, for repairs in 1770. At the 2006 census, Cooktown had a population of 1,336...
. It is managed and protected as a national park
National park
A national park is a reserve of natural, semi-natural, or developed land that a sovereign state declares or owns. Although individual nations designate their own national parks differently A national park is a reserve of natural, semi-natural, or developed land that a sovereign state declares or...
under the Nature Conservation Act 1992
Nature Conservation Act 1992
The Nature Conservation Act 1992 is an act of the Parliament of Queensland that provides for the legislative protection of Queensland's threatened biota. As originally published, it provided for biota to be declared presumed extinct, endangered, vulnerable, rare or common...
.
The main feature of the park is the mass of granite boulders, some the size of houses. Between the boulders and rocks is an absence of soil so that gaps penetrate inside the mountain. These rocks can become extremely hot.
The area has a bad reputation as numerous people and those searching for the missing have disappeared without trace. The Mulligan Highway
Mulligan Highway
The Mulligan Highway is a new state highway in Queensland, Australia. It runs for approximately 270 km between Mareeba and Cooktown, on the east coast of the Cape York Peninsula where it terminates....
marks the western border of the park.
Natural history
The national park's distinctive hard graniteGranite
Granite is a common and widely occurring type of intrusive, felsic, igneous rock. Granite usually has a medium- to coarse-grained texture. Occasionally some individual crystals are larger than the groundmass, in which case the texture is known as porphyritic. A granitic rock with a porphyritic...
boulders and range originally formed out of magma
Magma
Magma is a mixture of molten rock, volatiles and solids that is found beneath the surface of the Earth, and is expected to exist on other terrestrial planets. Besides molten rock, magma may also contain suspended crystals and dissolved gas and sometimes also gas bubbles. Magma often collects in...
that first slowly solidified under the Earth's crust about 250 million years ago.
The softer land surfaces above the solidified magma eroded away over time, leaving the magma's fractured top to be exposed as a mountain of grey granite boulders blackened by a film of microscopic blue-green algae growing on the exposed surfaces. Colder rains falling on the dark, heated granite boulders causes the boulders to progressively fracture, break, and slowly disintegrate, sometimes explosively.
Cultural history
The National Park's "Black Mountains" are a heavily significant feature of the Kuku Nyungkal peopleKuku Nyungkal people
The Kuku Nyungkal people are a group of Aboriginal Australians who are the original custodians of the coastal mountain slopes, wet tropical forests, waters, and waterfalls of the Upper Annan River, south of Cooktown, Queensland...
's cultural landscape
Cultural landscape
Cultural Landscapes have been defined by the World Heritage Committee as distinct geographical areas or properties uniquely "..represent[ing] the combined work of nature and of man.."....
known locally to Aboriginal Australians
Australian Aborigines
Australian Aborigines , also called Aboriginal Australians, from the latin ab originem , are people who are indigenous to most of the Australian continentthat is, to mainland Australia and the island of Tasmania...
as Kalkajaka (trans: "place of spear').
Queensland's Department of Environment and Natural Resources has been advised of at least four sites of particular mythological
Australian Aboriginal mythology
Australian Aboriginal myths are the stories traditionally performed by Aboriginal peoples within each of the language groups across Australia....
significance within the "Black Mountains" as follows:
There are at least four sites of religious or mythological significance on the mountain. These are the Kambi, a large rock with a cave where flying-foxes are found; Julbanu, a big grey kangaroo-shaped rock looking toward Cooktown; Birmba, a stone facing toward Helenvale where sulphur-crested cockatoos are seen; and a taboo place called Yirrmbal near the foot of the range.
The Black Mountains also features strongly in local, more non-Aboriginal cultural landscapes, some of which has also been described by Queensland's Department of Environment and Resource Management as follows:
When European colonists arrived late last century, they added to the many Aboriginal legends of the area with a few of their own. Stories abound of people, horses and whole mobs of cattle disappearing into the labyrinth of rocks, never to be seen again
It is believed that those who vanished most probably fell into one of the chasms under the rocks or after entering one of these places became lost.
Ecology
The Black Mountains are located at the northern-most end of the Wet Tropics World Heritage AreaWet Tropics of Queensland
The Wet Tropics of Queensland World Heritage Site consists of approximately 8,940 km² of Australian wet tropical forests growing along the north-east Queensland portion of the Great Dividing Range, stretching from Townsville to Cooktown, running in close parallel to the Great Barrier Reef...
, where world heritage listed wet tropical forests meet drier savanna
Savanna
A savanna, or savannah, is a grassland ecosystem characterized by the trees being sufficiently small or widely spaced so that the canopy does not close. The open canopy allows sufficient light to reach the ground to support an unbroken herbaceous layer consisting primarily of C4 grasses.Some...
woodlands - making it a natural refuge for once more widespread, now isolated relict
Relict
A relict is a surviving remnant of a natural phenomenon.* In biology a relict is an organism that at an earlier time was abundant in a large area but now occurs at only one or a few small areas....
fauna.
Queensland's Department of Environment and Resource Management advises, for instance, the relatively small, unusual "Black Mountain" environment is the world's only habitat for at least three animals: the Black Mountain boulderfrog or rock haunting frog (Cophixalus saxatilis); the Black Mountain skink (Carlia scirtetis
Carlia scirtetis
The Black Mountain Rainbow-skink is an endemic species that inhabits a total of 6 km² on Black Mountain in Queensland Australia. The species is 70 mm long with a weight between 4 and 6 grams.-References:...
); and the Black Mountain gecko (Nactus galgajuga). This makes the area one of Australia's most restricted habitats for endemic fauna.
Facilities
Camping is not permitted in the park. There are no walking tracks and no facilities for picnics. There is a viewing platform that features interpretive displays.External links
- Photograph of the "Black Mountain" from Len Webb Ecological Images CollectionAccessed 24 February 2009
- Unitied Nations University's Media Studio's (2008) video brief including Kuku Nyunkal woman (Marilyn Wallace) visiting Kalkajaka Accessed 23 February 2009
