The MacDonnell Ranges, or Tjoritja in Arrernte, is a

mountain range A mountain range or hill range is a series of mountains or hills arranged in a line and connected by high ground. A mountain system or mountain belt is a group of mountain ranges with similarity in form, structure, and alignment that have aris ...

located in southern

Northern Territory The Northern Territory (abbreviated as NT; known formally as the Northern Territory of Australia and informally as the Territory) is an states and territories of Australia, Australian internal territory in the central and central-northern regi ...

. MacDonnell Ranges is also the name given to an interim Australian bioregion broadly encompassing the mountain range, with an area of .IBRA Version 6.1
data The range is a long series of mountains in central

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

, consisting of parallel ridges running to the east and west of

Alice Springs Alice Springs () is a town in the Northern Territory, Australia; it is the third-largest settlement after Darwin, Northern Territory, Darwin and Palmerston, Northern Territory, Palmerston. The name Alice Springs was given by surveyor William ...

. The mountain range contains many spectacular gaps and gorges as well as areas of Aboriginal significance. The ranges were named after Sir Richard MacDonnell (the

Governor of South Australia The governor of South Australia is the representative in South Australia of the monarch, currently King Charles III. The governor performs the same constitutional and ceremonial functions at the state level as does the governor-general of Aust ...

at the time) by John McDouall Stuart, whose 1860 expedition reached them in April of that year. The Horn Expedition investigated the ranges as part of the scientific expedition into central Australia. Other explorers of the range included David Lindsay and John Ross. The MacDonnell Ranges were often depicted in the paintings of Albert Namatjira.

Geography

The highest peaks are Mount Zeil with an elevation of AHD,

Mount Liebig Mount Liebig is a mountain with an elevation of in the southern part of the Northern Territory of Australia. It is one of the highest peaks of the MacDonnell Ranges and was named by the explorer Ernest Giles after the German chemist Justus vo ...

at AHD, Mount Edward at , Mount Giles at and Mount Sonder at AHD; the five highest mountains in the Northern Territory. The

headwaters The headwater of a river or stream is the geographical point of its beginning, specifically where surface runoff water begins to accumulate into a flowing channel of water. A river or stream into which one or many tributary rivers or streams flo ...

of the Todd, Finke and Sandover rivers form in the MacDonnell Ranges. The range is crossed by the Australian Overland Telegraph Line, the

Stuart Highway Stuart Highway is a major Australian highway. It runs from Darwin, Northern Territory, Darwin, in the Northern Territory, via Tennant Creek and Alice Springs, to Port Augusta in South Australia; it has a distance of . Its northern and souther ...

and the Adelaide–Darwin rail corridor at the Heavitree Gap, a water gap created by the Todd River, at the southern entrance to Alice Springs.

Geology

Some 300-350 million years ago a mountain building event created the MacDonnell Ranges. Since that time, folding, faulting and erosion have shaped the range and created numerous gaps and gorges. The ranges are composed of many rock types, but are most famous for their red quartzite peaks and gorges. Other rock types include

granite Granite ( ) is a coarse-grained (phanerite, phaneritic) intrusive rock, intrusive igneous rock composed mostly of quartz, alkali feldspar, and plagioclase. It forms from magma with a high content of silica and alkali metal oxides that slowly coo ...

limestone Limestone is a type of carbonate rock, carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material Lime (material), lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different Polymorphism (materials science) ...

sandstone Sandstone is a Clastic rock#Sedimentary clastic rocks, clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of grain size, sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate mineral, silicate grains, Cementation (geology), cemented together by another mineral. Sand ...

and siltstone. Some of the valleys of the range contain fossil evidence of the inland sea that once covered central Australia.

Ecology

Part of the Central Ranges xeric scrub

ecoregion An ecoregion (ecological region) is an ecological and geographic area that exists on multiple different levels, defined by type, quality, and quantity of environmental resources. Ecoregions cover relatively large areas of land or water, and c ...

of dry scrubby grassland, the ranges are home to a large number of endemic species that includes the centralian tree frog '' Litoria gilleni''. This is mostly due to the micro climates that are found around the cold rock pools.

Tourist attractions

The West MacDonnell National Park was established in 1984 to protect the numerous parks and reserves of the range, including internal residents inside the range. It also facilitated the development of the Larapinta Trail. To the east of Alice Springs, within an hour's drive, are sites important to the local Arrernte people, many of which contain examples of Aboriginal

rock art In archaeology, rock arts are human-made markings placed on natural surfaces, typically vertical stone surfaces. A high proportion of surviving historic and prehistoric rock art is found in caves or partly enclosed rock shelters; this type al ...

. These include Emily Gap, Jessie Gap, Trephina Gorge and N’Dhala Gorge. To the west of Alice Springs is the Larapinta Trail—a world-class, long distance bush walking trail that runs along the backbone of the range. Along the trail are Simpsons Gap, Standley Chasm, Ellery Creek Big Hole, Serpentine Gorge, Ochre Pits, Ormiston Pound, Redbank Gorge, Glen Helen Gorge, Mount Sonder and Mount Giles.

Gallery

File:West MacDonnell National Park.JPG, From the Larapinta Trail near Glen Helen File:Ellery_Creek.jpg, Ellery Creek Big Hole File:A221, West MacDonnell National Park, Australia, Ellery Creek reflects River Red Gum trees, 2007.jpg, Ellery Creek and river red gum trees File:Ochre Pits.jpg, Ochre pits File:Simpsons Gap.jpg, Simpsons Gap File:A160, West MacDonnell National Park, Australia, Serpentine Gorge, 2007.JPG, Serpentine Gorge

References

External links

Arrernte art
{{DEFAULTSORT:Macdonnell Ranges IBRA regions Mountain ranges of the Northern Territory Biogeography of the Northern Territory MacDonnell Region