Marble Bar Geology
The marble bar pool attracts an abundance of wildlife and is set in a beautiful and rugged landscape.
Marble bar geology. Marble is a metamorphic rock composed of recrystallized carbonate minerals most commonly calcite or dolomite marble is typically not foliated although there are exceptions in geology the term marble refers to metamorphosed limestone but its use in stonemasonry more broadly encompasses unmetamorphosed limestone. It is well known for its extremely hot weather with a mean maximum temperature second only to wyndham western australia. Geology map of marble bar area with our routes. Horizontal waterfalls described by david attenborough as the 8th natural wonder of the world br br buccaneer archipelago home to 1 000 islands made of precambrian sandstone over 2 billion years old br br koolan and cockatoo island home to the world s richest iron ore deposits br br explore kooljaman at cape leveque with refreshments and a swim.
Great batholiths of very ancient granite are characteristic of this part of the pilbara. It is composed primarily of the mineral calcite caco 3 and usually contains other minerals such as clay minerals micas quartz pyrite iron oxides and graphite under the conditions of metamorphism the calcite in the limestone recrystallizes to form a rock that is. Both the marble bar and chinaman s pools are located in an a class remove and the removal of rock can attract a 10 000 fine. Marble is a metamorphic rock that forms when limestone is subjected to the heat and pressure of metamorphism.
Built in in the former adams hotel in 1893 the victorian structure was painstakingly dismantled transported and reassembled in hilton sydney 1973 where the restored mahogany bar and marble archways still awe guests to this day. The marble bar paleoplacer gold at marble bar novo is exploring for gold bearing conglomerates at the base of the fortescue group a thick sequence of ancient sedimentary and volcanic rocks. Historic mines along the eastern margin of the marble bar sub basin exploited pyritic gold bearing reefs as early as the late 1800 s. Once we left the highway our first geological stop was to look at a granite tor which was not far off the road.
Marble bar is a town and rock formation in the pilbara region of north western western australia. North of marble bar by looking at rock fabrics we discovered the remains of the oldest recorded gravitational overturn in the pilbara. A granite tor part of the yule granitic complex. Founded in 1893 marble bar has earned a reputation as australia s hottest town owing to the consistently high temperatures experienced during the summer months when the mercury climbs over 38 degrees for days on end.
The intensely sheared rocks at the boundary of the. Marble is commonly used for sculpture and as a building material. Geology enthusiasts should note the spectacular outcrops which incorporate some of the oldest archaean rocks in the world. The town was officially gazetted in 1893 following.