Mount Woodroffe
Encyclopedia
Mount Woodroffe is South Australia
's highest peak, at 1,435 metres.
In Indigenous Australian mythology
, the mountain embodies the mythological creature Ngintaka
.
, in the Musgrave Ranges
. The mountain range rises some 700–800 metres from the surrounding plains and comprises massifs of granite
and gneiss
.
, who first sighted it on 20 July 1873 and is named after George Woodroffe Goyder, Surveyor-General of South Australia and an early explorer of South Australia and the Northern Territory
himself.
In the 1960s Mount Woodroffe was considered as a potential site for the proposed Anglo-Australian Telescope (AAT)
. It lost out due to its remoteness compared to Siding Spring
in New South Wales
, where the AAT sits today amongst other astronomical observatories .
Pitjantjatjara lands.
South Australia
South Australia is a state of Australia in the southern central part of the country. It covers some of the most arid parts of the continent; with a total land area of , it is the fourth largest of Australia's six states and two territories.South Australia shares borders with all of the mainland...
's highest peak, at 1,435 metres.
Cultural Significance
The mountain is known to the Pitjantjatjara Indigenous Australians as Ngarutjaranya.In Indigenous Australian mythology
Australian Aboriginal mythology
Australian Aboriginal myths are the stories traditionally performed by Aboriginal peoples within each of the language groups across Australia....
, the mountain embodies the mythological creature Ngintaka
Ngintaka
Ngintaka is a giant perentie lizard spirit being of Australian aboriginal "Dreaming" Creation mythology.- Summary :The Ngintaka is one of several Creation Ancestor Beings of the Anangu Pitjantjatjara Western Desert Speaking Original people of Central Australia...
.
Geography
Mount Woodroffe is located in the far northwest of South AustraliaSouth Australia
South Australia is a state of Australia in the southern central part of the country. It covers some of the most arid parts of the continent; with a total land area of , it is the fourth largest of Australia's six states and two territories.South Australia shares borders with all of the mainland...
, in the Musgrave Ranges
Musgrave Ranges
Musgrave Ranges is a mountain range in Central Australia, straddling the boundary of South Australia and the Northern Territory , extending into Western Australia. It is between the Great Victoria Desert to the south and the Gibson Desert to the north...
. The mountain range rises some 700–800 metres from the surrounding plains and comprises massifs of granite
Granite
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...
and gneiss
Gneiss
Gneiss is a common and widely distributed type of rock formed by high-grade regional metamorphic processes from pre-existing formations that were originally either igneous or sedimentary rocks.-Etymology:...
.
History
Mount Woodroffe was named by William Christie GosseWilliam Gosse
William Christie Gosse , explorer, was born in Hertfordshire, England and migrated to Australia with his father in 1850. He was educated at J.L. Young's Adelaide Educational Institution and in 1859 he entered the Government service of South Australia. He held various positions in the survey...
, who first sighted it on 20 July 1873 and is named after George Woodroffe Goyder, Surveyor-General of South Australia and an early explorer of South Australia and the Northern Territory
Northern Territory
The Northern Territory is a federal territory of Australia, occupying much of the centre of the mainland continent, as well as the central northern regions...
himself.
In the 1960s Mount Woodroffe was considered as a potential site for the proposed Anglo-Australian Telescope (AAT)
Anglo-Australian Telescope
The Anglo-Australian Telescope is a 3.9 m equatorially mounted telescope operated by the Australian Astronomical Observatory and situated at the Siding Spring Observatory, Australia at an altitude of a little over 1100 m...
. It lost out due to its remoteness compared to Siding Spring
Siding Spring Observatory
Siding Spring Observatory near Coonabarabran, New South Wales, Australia, part of the Research School of Astronomy & Astrophysics at the Australian National University , incorporates the Anglo-Australian Telescope along with a collection of other telescopes owned by the Australian National...
in New South Wales
New South Wales
New South Wales is a state of :Australia, located in the east of the country. It is bordered by Queensland, Victoria and South Australia to the north, south and west respectively. To the east, the state is bordered by the Tasman Sea, which forms part of the Pacific Ocean. New South Wales...
, where the AAT sits today amongst other astronomical observatories .
Access
Access is limited as a permit is required to enter the AnanguAnangu
Anangu, more accurately "Aṉaŋu" or "Arnangu" is a word found in a number of eastern varieties of the Western Desert Language , an Australian Aboriginal language of the Pama–Nyungan family, spoken in the desert regions of western and central Australia. Before the arrival of non-Aboriginal people in...
Pitjantjatjara lands.