Mount Conner, also known as Artilla or Atila, or
tongue-in-cheek
Tongue-in-cheek is an idiom that describes a humorous or sarcastic statement expressed in a serious manner.
History
The phrase originally expressed contempt, but by 1842 had acquired its modern meaning. Early users of the phrase include Sir Walte ...
as Fooluru, is a mountain located in the southwest corner of the
Northern Territory of Australia
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 ...
.
Location and description
Mount Conner is located southeast of
Lake Amadeus
Lake Amadeus (together with Lake Neale, Pitjantjatjara: ''Pantu'' ("salt lakes")) is a large salt lake in the southwest corner of Northern Territory of Australia, about north of Uluru. The smaller Lake Neale is adjacent to the northwest. I ...
, in the locality of
Petermann.
It lies within the
Curtin Springs cattle station in
Pitjantjatjara country, close to the site of the
Kungkarangkalpa (Seven Sisters)
Dreaming.
Its height reaches above sea level and above ground level.
Names
Mount Conner was named after
M. L. Conner by explorer
William Gosse in 1873. Its Aboriginal name is "Artilla" or "Attila", believed to be associated with the "terrible ice-man" story.
It is also known by locals as "Fool-uru" or "Fuluru", owing to tourists sometimes confusing it with
Uluru
Uluru (; ), also known as Ayers Rock ( ) and officially gazetted as UluruAyers Rock, is a large sandstone monolith. It outcrop, crops out near the centre of Australia in the southern part of the Northern Territory, south-west of Alice Spri ...
.
Geology
The sides of Mount Conner are blanketed by
scree
Scree is a collection of broken rock fragments at the base of a cliff or other steep rocky mass that has accumulated through periodic rockfall. Landforms associated with these materials are often called talus deposits.
The term ''scree'' is ap ...
(talus) and its top is blanketed by
colluvium
Colluvium (also colluvial material or colluvial soil) is a general name for loose, unconsolidated sediments that have been deposited at the base of hillslopes by either rainwash, Sheet erosion , sheetwash, slow continuous downslope creep, or a va ...
. The base of Mount Conner is surrounded by
alluvium
Alluvium (, ) is loose clay, silt, sand, or gravel that has been deposited by running water in a stream bed, on a floodplain, in an alluvial fan or beach, or in similar settings. Alluvium is also sometimes called alluvial deposit. Alluvium is ...
.
[Young, DN, N Duncan, A Camacho, PA Ferenczi, and TLA Madigan (2002a) ''Ayers Rock, SG 52-8 map, 1:250 000 Geological Series (Second Edition), Northern Territory Geological Survey.'' scale 1:250 000, Darwin, Northern Territory Geological Survey, Australia.][Young, DN, N Duncan, A Camacho, PA Ferenczi, and TLA Madigan (2002b) ''Ayers Rock, SG 52-8 Explanatory Text, 1:250 000 Geological Series (Second Edition).'' scale 1:250 000, Darwin, Northern Territory Geological Survey, Australia.][Edgoose, CJ (2012) ''The Amadeus Basin, central Australia.'' Episodes. 35(1):257-263.]
The summit of Mount Conner, along with the summits of low domes in the
Kata Tjuta complex and summit levels of Uluru, is an erosional remnant of a
Cretaceous
The Cretaceous ( ) is a geological period that lasted from about 143.1 to 66 mya (unit), million years ago (Mya). It is the third and final period of the Mesozoic Era (geology), Era, as well as the longest. At around 77.1 million years, it is the ...
geomorphic surface. It is considered to be a classic example of an
inselberg
An inselberg or monadnock ( ) is an isolated rock hill, knob, ridge, or small mountain that rises abruptly from a gently sloping or virtually level surrounding plain.
In Southern Africa, a similar formation of granite is known as a koppie, an ...
created by erosion of surrounding strata.
[ Twidale, C.R. (2007) ''Ancient Australian Landscapes.'' Rosenberg Publishing, Kenthurst, New South Wales. 144 pp.]
See also
*
List of mountains of the Northern Territory
This is a list of mountains in Australia.
Highest points by state and territory
List of mountains in Australia by topographic prominence
This is a list of the top 50 mountains in Australia ranked by topographic prominence. Most of these ...
References
Additional sources
*
*
*
Further reading
*{{cite book , url=https://geoscience.nt.gov.au/gemis/ntgsjspui/handle/1/81571 , title=A Guide to the Geology and Landforms of Central Australia , publisher=Northern Territory Geological Survey , location=Alice Springs , first=R B , last=Thompson , year=1995 , isbn=0-7245-2527-0
Conner, Mount
Conner