We made a bee line to the Naracoorte Caves National Park to spend the day exploring the caves and South Australia's Worlds Heritage Fossil Site.
The park boasts an extensive fossil record unrivalled in any cave system in the world. It was the best day! Stepping into those caves was like stepping into a time machine!
We visited the Wonambi Fossil Centre which gave us an insight into the past with life size robotic recreations of extinct mega fauna, and research information provided by Flinders University.
Flinders University are doing research digs at the moment in two of the caves - Alexandra Cave and the Victoria Fossil Cave which was very interesting to see. We visited the bat Observation Centre where we could observe a colony of Southern Bentwinged bats in their natural habitat. The Bat Cave itself is only accessible to scientists, but by using specially designed infra-red cameras, we were able to watch the bats. Blanche Cave and the Wet Cave were the other two caves we visited. All very beautiful with their stalagmites, stalactites, shawls, straws, flows and columns - all the stunning forms that grow in the caves. How do they grow? - because of the dripping of mineralised solutions through the limestone and the deposition of calcium carbonate (calcite).
Why did these mega fauna, which we know existed because of the fossil evidence found in the Naracoorte Caves, become extinct? Climatic events - ICE AGES!!!
Flinders University research...................very interesting!
 |
| The diagram explains the different forms that grow in the caves, created by the dripping calcite |
 |
| See the tiny Southern Bentwing bat in the Aven? |
 |
| The stalagmite forming |
 |
The calcite drips!
Looking at the size of the formations in the caves - how long would this process have taken!!!!?????
These caves and formations are very, very old!!!!!!!! Incredible feeling walking in them knowing their age! |
 |
| These are the tiny Southern Bentwinged bats we observed in their natural cave environment from the Bat Observation Centre. They fly out of a small hole in the roof of the cave at sunset, and back in at dawn - quite a spectacular sight as there are about 40,000 of them flitting! |
 |
This section of the cave is used for performances.
Shakespeare's "Macbeth" was performed in here last week - perfect atmosphere for the play! |
 |
| The roof of the cave has fallen in in certain sections of this cave |
 |
| One of the Flinders University research digs |
 |
| How incredible to find these fossils! |
 |
| The young National Park Guide was a wealth of knowledge and the information about the continuing research that is occurring in this cave was so interesting. |
No comments:
Post a Comment