Sturts Stony Desert South Australia

Sturts Stony Desert is in South Australia…70kms south of Birdsville….the surface is covered with a tessalation of red rocks which have been sand blasted by the winds and sand to a shiny deep red surface.

The rocks are called Gibbers and these stony deserts are known as Gibber deserts.

Under the rocks is very fine soft powdery sand, also known as Bulldust, which blows everywhere.  In wet weather, the fine powdery sand turns to mud.

Under the stones there is a conchordial fracture stones. The aborigines used these stones as preformed blades and tools for tool making.

Burke and Wills wrote in 1862 that ‘ expedition that the ground was covered with sharp stones that were dreadful to walk on’

The winds and sand have eroded these rocks into some fantastic shapes and created natural sculptures ranging from very small to enormous. The rocks break off the cappings and then get eroded into some amazing shapes. The outer becomes coated with a deep shiny cover like polished leather. The gibbers, as they are known, are actually nature polished rocks and they are certainly beautiful…