View source for Purnululu National Park

{{Use Australian English|date=August 2012}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2021}}
{{Infobox protected area
| name            = Purnululu National Park
| photo           = Echidna chasm WA.jpg
| photo_caption   = Echidna Chasm
| photo_alt       = 
| iucn_category   = II
| iucn_ref        = 
| coordinates     = {{coord|17|27|47|S|128|33|51|E|type:landmark_scale:1500000_region:AU-WA|display=inline,title}}
| map             = Western Australia
| map_alt         = 
| map_width       = 200px
| relief          = yes
| label           = Purnululu National Park
| label_position  = 
| location        = [[Western Australia]]
| established     = 1987
| area_ha         = 
| area_km2        = 2397.23
| area_ref        = <ref name="ParkAreas">{{cite journal|year=2010|title=Department of Environment and Conservation 2009–2010 Annual Report|page=48|journal=WA Department of Environment and Conservation|publisher=[[Government of Western Australia]]|issn=1835-114X|url=http://www.dec.wa.gov.au/content/view/6139/2345/|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110111124319/http://www.dec.wa.gov.au/content/view/6139/2345/|archive-date=11 January 2011}}</ref>
| visitation_num  = 
| visitation_year = 
| visitation_ref  = 
| nearest_city    = [[Halls Creek, Western Australia|Halls Creek]]
| nearest_town    =
| governing_body  = WA Department of Parks and Wildlife
| website         = {{official|1=http://parks.dpaw.wa.gov.au/park/purnululu}}
| embedded        = {{Infobox UNESCO World Heritage Site
  |child = yes
  |ID = 1094
  |Year = 2003
  |Criteria = Natural: vii, viii
  }}
}}

The '''Purnululu National Park''' is a [[World Heritage Site]] in the [[Kimberley (Western Australia)|East Kimberley]] region of [[Western Australia]]. The {{convert|239723|ha|adj=on}} [[national park]] is located approximately {{convert|300|km}} south of [[Kununurra, Western Australia|Kununurra]], with [[Halls Creek]] located to the south. Declared a World Heritage Site in 2003, the park was inscribed as follows:<ref name=whl>{{cite web|url=https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/1094|title=Purnululu National Park|work=[[World Heritage Site|World Heritage List]]|publisher=[[UNESCO]]|date=2014|access-date=30 August 2014}}</ref>
{{quotation|...[is a] remote area managed as wilderness. It includes the Bungle Bungle Range, a spectacularly incised landscape of sculptured rocks which contains superlative examples of beehive-shaped karst sandstone rising 250 metres above the surrounding semi-arid savannah grasslands. Unique depositional processes and weathering have given these towers their spectacular black and orange banded appearance, formed by biological processes of cyanobacteria (single cell photosynthetic organisms) which serve to stabilise and protect the ancient sandstone formations. These outstanding examples of cone karst that have eroded over a period of 20 million years are of great beauty and exceptional geological interest.|Brief synthesis of Purnululu National Park as inscribed on the [[UNESCO]] [[World Heritage List]].}}

[[File:Bungle Bungles range.jpg|thumb|upright|Aerial view of the Bungle Bungle range, May 2016]]

== Purnululu National Park World Heritage Site ==

The World Heritage status of the region was created and negotiated in 2003, and the adopted boundary of the existing national park.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://whc.unesco.org/en/decisions/706|title=Purnululu National Park (Australia)|work=Committee Decisions|publisher=[[UNESCO]] World Heritage Convention|date=2003|access-date=30 August 2014}}</ref> Since its listing, the [[Government of Western Australia]] has reserved additional areas located adjacent to the World Heritage Area, including the Purnululu Conservation Park and the Ord River Regeneration Reserve.<ref name=whl /> The site was [[government gazette|gazetted]] on the [[Australian National Heritage List]] on 21 May 2007 under the {{Cite Legislation AU|Cth|act|eahlaa12003459|Environment and Heritage Legislation Amendment Act (No. 1), 2003}}.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.environment.gov.au/system/files/pages/758ea283-6b9d-41bc-a29a-1276e1c7fced/files/10568601.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140903135629/http://www.environment.gov.au/system/files/pages/758ea283-6b9d-41bc-a29a-1276e1c7fced/files/10568601.pdf |archive-date=2014-09-03 |url-status=live|type=PDF|title=Determination regarding including World Heritage places in the National Heritage List|work=[[Government gazette|Special government gazette]]|number=S.99|date=21 May 2007|access-date=30 August 2014|publisher=[[Department of the Environment (Australia)|Department of the Environment and Water Resources]], [[Commonwealth of Australia]]}}</ref>

=== Etymology ===
''Purnululu'' is a mispronounced [[Djaru language|Djaru]] word for the area around Bungle Bungle out camp, which is referred to as Bullmanlulu. The correct Karjaganujaru name for the Bungle Bungle massif is Billingjal which means sand falling away.<ref>Spoken by Djaru Traditional owner Bonnie Edwards</ref>

The [[traditional owners]] of the area are the [[Karjaganujaru]] peoples.<ref>Five Anthropologist proven its Djaru land</ref>

=== Features ===
The [[Bungle Bungle Range]], lying fully within the park, has elevations as high as {{convert|578|m}} [[Australian Height Datum|above sea level]]. It is famous for the sandstone domes, unusual and visually striking with their striping in alternating orange and grey bands. The banding of the domes is due to differences in clay content and porosity of the sandstone layers: the orange bands consist of oxidised [[iron]] compounds in layers that dry out too quickly for [[cyanobacteria]] to multiply; the grey bands are composed of cyanobacteria growing on the surface of layers of sandstone where moisture accumulates.

=== Geology ===
The Bungle Bungle Range is one of the most extensive and impressive occurrences of sandstone tower (or cone) [[karst]] terrain in the world. The Bungle Bungles were a plateau of [[Devonian]] sandstone,  carved into a mass of beehive-shaped towers with regularly alternating, dark gray bands of cyanobacterial crust (single cell photosynthetic organisms). The plateau is dissected by {{convert|100|-|200|m|adj=on}} deep, sheer-sided gorges and [[slot canyon]]s. The cone-towers are steep-sided, with an abrupt break of slope at the base and have domed summits. How they were formed is not yet completely understood.  Their surface is fragile but stabilized by crusts of [[iron oxide]] and bacteria. They provide an outstanding example of land formation by dissolutional weathering of sandstone, with removal of sand grains by wind, rain and sheet wash on slopes.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia|url=http://www.eoearth.org/view/article/155611/|title=Purnululu National Park, Australia|encyclopedia=[[Encyclopedia of Earth]]}}</ref>

=== Access ===
Access to the park by road is via Spring Creek Track, from the [[Great Northern Highway]] approximately {{convert|250|km}} south of Kununurra, to the track's end at the visitor centre. The track is {{convert|53|km}} long and is usable only in the dry season (about 1 April to 31 December) by [[four-wheel-drive]] vehicles. Safely navigating it takes approximately three hours. Access by air is less demanding; helicopter flights are available from Bellburn Airstrip<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://parks.dpaw.wa.gov.au/site/bellburn-airstrip|title=Bellburn Airstrip &#124; Explore Parks WA &#124; Parks and Wildlife Service}}</ref> in the national park, and from [[Warmun]] [[Roadhouse (facility)#Australia|roadhouse]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://stillaslife.com/travel/darwin-to-perth-day-3-kununurra-to-fitzroy-crossing/|title = Darwin to Perth Day 3 - Kununurra to Fitzroy Crossing &#124; Still as Life|date = 9 January 2017}}</ref> Scenic [[light aircraft]] flights are also available out of [[Kununurra, Western Australia|Kununurra]] and [[Lake Argyle]].

== Gallery ==
<gallery mode="packed" heights=140 widths=210>
File:The Domes Walk, Purnululu National Park.jpg|The Domes Walk
File:Purnululu3.jpg|Cathedral Gorge
File:A202, Purnululu National Park, Western Australia, Bungle Bungles, from plane, 2007.JPG|Aerial view of a canyon
</gallery>

== See also ==
{{stack|{{portal|Western Australia|environment}}}}
* [[Protected areas of Western Australia]]
* [[Kimberley (Western Australia)]]

==References==
{{reflist|30em}}

== Further reading ==
* Hoatsan, Dean et al.(1997) ''Bungle Bungle Range : Purnululu National Park, East Kimberley, Western Australia : a guide to the rocks, landforms, plants, animals, and human impact'' Canberra : Australian Geological Survey Organisation. {{ISBN|0-642-25010-3}}

== External links ==
{{Commons category|Purnululu National Park}}
{{Wikivoyage}}
*[http://www.environment.gov.au/heritage/places/world/purnululu/index.html World heritage listing for Purnululu National Park]
*[https://parks.dpaw.wa.gov.au/park/purnululu Purnululu National Park]
* [https://artsandculture.google.com/story/XgVBAAuh6cQLlw Purnululu National Park] UNESCO Collection on Google Arts and Culture

{{World Heritage Sites in Australia}}
{{National Parks of Western Australia}}

{{authority control}}

[[Category:National parks of Western Australia]]
[[Category:World Heritage Sites in Western Australia]]
[[Category:Geology of Western Australia]]
[[Category:Kimberley (Western Australia)]]
[[Category:Protected areas established in 1987]]
[[Category:Australian National Heritage List]]
[[Category:1987 establishments in Australia]]