Mount Oxley
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Mount Oxley ( Aboriginal: ''Oombi Oombi'') is a
hill A hill is a landform that extends above the surrounding terrain. It often has a distinct summit, and is usually applied to peaks which are above elevation compared to the relative landmass, though not as prominent as Mountain, mountains. Hills ...
situated from Bourke in the
Far West Far West may refer to: Places * Western Canada, or the West ** British Columbia Coast * Western United States, or Far West ** West Coast of the United States * American frontier, or Far West, Old West, or Wild West * Far West (Taixi), a term used ...
region of
New South Wales New South Wales (commonly abbreviated as NSW) is a States and territories of Australia, state on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of :Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria (state), Victoria to the south, and South ...
in
outback The Outback is a remote, vast, sparsely populated area of Australia. The Outback is more remote than Australian bush, the bush. While often envisaged as being arid, the Outback regions extend from the northern to southern Australian coastli ...
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 ...
. The hill appears as a
mesa A mesa is an isolated, flat-topped elevation, ridge, or hill, bounded from all sides by steep escarpments and standing distinctly above a surrounding plain. Mesas consist of flat-lying soft sedimentary rocks, such as shales, capped by a ...
-like
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 ...
, rising above the Western Plains. It is a small relic of a formerly large
sedimentary Sedimentary rocks are types of rock formed by the cementation of sediments—i.e. particles made of minerals (geological detritus) or organic matter (biological detritus)—that have been accumulated or deposited at Earth's surface. Sedime ...
rock formation, mostly now eroded away. The underlying and surrounding rocks are sedimentary sandstone and metamorphic
quartzite Quartzite is a hard, non- foliated metamorphic rock that was originally pure quartz sandstone.Essentials of Geology, 3rd Edition, Stephen Marshak, p 182 Sandstone is converted into quartzite through heating and pressure usually related to tecton ...
. The first European to visit the mountain was
Charles Sturt Charles Napier Sturt (28 April 1795 – 16 June 1869) was a British officer and explorer of Australia, and part of the European land exploration of Australia, European exploration of Australia. He led several expeditions into the interior of the ...
in December 1828. He mentioned "a report as of a gun discharge" near Mount Oxley. He surmised "it might be some gaseous explosion".


Etymology

Named after the explorer
John Oxley John Joseph William Molesworth Oxley (1784 – 25 May 1828) was an English List of explorers, explorer and surveyor of Australia in the early period of British colonisation. He served as Surveyor General of New South Wales and is perhaps bes ...
, the mountain is known as ''Oombi Oombi'' to the
Indigenous Australians Indigenous Australians are people with familial heritage from, or recognised membership of, the various ethnic groups living within the territory of contemporary Australia prior to History of Australia (1788–1850), British colonisation. The ...
. Archaeological evidence suggested that they quarried the area for grinding stones. Stones from Mount Oxley were highly regarded and expensive, and reportedly managed by indigenous elders.


Flora and fauna

Plants growing here have adapted to the
semi-arid climate A semi-arid climate, semi-desert climate, or steppe climate is a dry climate sub-type. It is located on regions that receive precipitation below potential evapotranspiration, but not as low as a desert climate. There are different kinds of se ...
. They include species of ''
Acacia ''Acacia'', commonly known as wattles or acacias, is a genus of about of shrubs and trees in the subfamily Mimosoideae of the pea family Fabaceae. Initially, it comprised a group of plant species native to Africa, South America, and Austral ...
'', the desert bloodwood, weeping pittosporum and leopardwood. Wildflowers of the
daisy family Asteraceae () is a large family of flowering plants that consists of over 32,000 known species in over 1,900 genera within the order Asterales. The number of species in Asteraceae is rivaled only by the Orchidaceae, and which is the larger fam ...
are prominent after rain. Animals seen here include
western grey kangaroo The western grey kangaroo (''Macropus fuliginosus''), also referred to as a western grey giant kangaroo, black-faced kangaroo, mallee kangaroo, sooty kangaroo and (when referring to the Kangaroo Island subspecies) Kangaroo Island grey kangaroo, i ...
and
feral goat The feral goat is the domestic goat (''Capra hircus'') when it has become established in the wild. Feral goats occur in many parts of the world. Species Feral goats consist of many breeds of domestic goats, all of which stem from the wild go ...
s.
Wedge-tailed eagle The wedge-tailed eagle (''Aquila audax'') also known as the eaglehawk, is the largest bird of prey in the continent of Australia. It is also found in southern New Guinea to the north and is distributed as far south as the state of Tasmania. A ...
s are often seen flying above the mountain.


Geology

A number of small crater-like rocky formations may be seen in two distinct lines on the top part of the hill. There is ongoing speculation regarding their formation. The most likely explanation for the speculated 'huge steam vents', explosions and craters is geological. Other theories include
meteor A meteor, known colloquially as a shooting star, is a glowing streak of a small body (usually meteoroid) going through Earth's atmosphere, after being heated to incandescence by collisions with air molecules in the upper atmosphere, creating a ...
s,
evil spirit Evil, as a concept, is usually defined as profoundly immoral behavior, and it is related to acts that cause unnecessary pain and suffering to others. Evil is commonly seen as the opposite, or sometimes absence, of good. It can be an extremely ...
s,
omen An omen (also called ''portent'') is a phenomenon that is believed to foretell the future, often signifying the advent of change. It was commonly believed in ancient history, and still believed by some today, that omens bring divine messages ...
s,
artillery Artillery consists of ranged weapons that launch Ammunition, munitions far beyond the range and power of infantry firearms. Early artillery development focused on the ability to breach defensive walls and fortifications during sieges, and l ...
, animals or unidentified human activity. Charles Sturt's exploring party reached there in January 1828 and recorded a description of the curious craters: Mount Oxley has been mooted as a site for a seven-turbine
wind farm A wind farm, also called a wind park or wind power plant, is a group of wind turbines in the same location used to produce electricity. Wind farms vary in size from a small number of turbines to several hundred wind turbines covering an exten ...
.


See also

*


References

{{New South Wales mountains , state=autocollapse Oxley North West Slopes