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知识简介
Uluru (Ayers Rock), Kata Tjuta (The Olgas) and Yulara.
The greatest tourist attraction in the Northern Territory. An awesome sight particularly at both sunrise and sunset.
There is something totally awe-inspiring about Uluru. There it sits in the centre of Australia. A huge monolith, 862.5 metres above sea level, 1395 km south of Darwin and 465 km south west of Alice Springs, rising out of the desert. No wonder the local Aborigines regarded it as a sacred site. The average white Australian, clinging to the shores of this vast continent, also regards 'the greatest stone on earth' as something very special.
Uluru rises 348 metres above the surrounding countryside, has an area of 3.33 sq. km and a circumference of 9.4 km. It experiences an average of 200-250 mm of rainfall per annum and a typical desert temperature range which can fall to -8°C at night-time in winter and rise to 47°C during the day in summer.
In the language of the local Aborigines 'Uluru' is simply a place name which is applied to both the rock and the waterhole on top of the rock. 'Yulara', the resort located 21 km from the base of the rock, means 'crying' or 'weeping' (which is what happens when most people see their accommodation bill) in the language of the local Pitjantjatjara and Yunkunytjatjara peoples.
There is some scientific disagreement about the origins of Uluru. The most widely held theory is that both Uluru and Kata Tjuta are remnants of a vast sedimentary bed which was laid down some 600 million years ago. The bed was spectacularly tilted so that Uluru now protrudes at an angle of up to 85°. The rock is actually grey but is covered with a distinctive red iron oxide coating.
No one is sure when the first Aborigines moved into the area but the best evidence suggests that it was at least 10 000 years ago. The notes on the history of Uluru National Park explain the Aboriginal understanding of Uluru in the following terms: 'In the beginning the world was unformed and featureless. Ancestral beings emerged from this void and journeyed widely, creating all the living species and the characteristic features of the desert landscape you see today. Uluru and Kata Tjuta provide physical evidence of feats performed during the creation period. Anangu are the direct descendants of these beings and are responsible for the protection and appropriate management of these ancestral lands. The knowledge necessary to fulfill these responsibilities has been passed down from generation to generation from the Tjukurpa.' An excellent and more detailed account of the Aboriginal history of Uluru appears in Robert Layton's Uluru: An Aboriginal History of Ayers Rock published by the Australian Institute of Aboriginal Studies in 1986.
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