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Kata Tjuta

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domed rock formation in the Northern Territory of Australia

Key facts

Peak
Mount Olga
Elevation
1,066 m (3,497 ft)
Prominence
487 m (1,598 ft)
Native name
Kata Tjuṯa ( Pitjantjatjara )

via Wikipedia infobox

~6 min read

Encyclopedic overview

Aerial view of Kata Tjuṯa / Mount Olga Kata Tjuṯa (Pitjantjatjara: Kata Tjuṯa, lit. 'many heads'; pronounced [kɐtɐ cʊʈɐ]), also known as The Olgas and officially gazetted as Kata Tjuta / Mount Olga, is a group of large, domed rock formations or bornhardts located about 360 km (220 mi) southwest of Alice Springs, in the southern part of the Northern Territory, central Australia. Uluṟu / Ayers Rock, located 25 km (16 mi) to the east, and Kata Tjuṯa / The Olgas form the two major landmarks within the Uluṟu-Kata Tjuṯa National Park. The park is considered sacred to the local Aboriginal community.

The 36 domes that make up Kata Tjuṯa / Mount Olga cover an area of 21.68 km (8.37 sq mi) are composed of conglomerate, a sedimentary rock consisting of cobbles and boulders of varying rock types including granite and basalt, cemented by a matrix of coarse sandstone. The highest dome, Mount Olga, is 1,066 m (3,497 ft) above sea level, or approximately 546 m (1,791 ft) above the surrounding plain (198 m (650 ft) higher than Uluṟu). Kata Tjuṯa is located at the eastern end of the Docker River Road.

Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “Kata Tjuta” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.

On the map