Mount Augustus - Places to See

The journey to Mount Augustus is far from easy but the result of the effort is a rare opportunity to see one of the wonders of Australia. As the world's largest monocline Mt Augustus has a central ridge which is almost 8 kilometres long and it is estimated that the rock of the mountain is some 1000 million years old. It was formed from an uplift which raised an ancient seabed of sandstone conglomerate and folded it into a dramatic anticline (like an inverted V shape). The granite rock which lies beneath Mt Augustus is said to be 1650 million years old.

The most significant difference between Uluru and Mount Augustus is that the former has a hard coating on its exterior which has, very distinctively, created a situation where there is no scree slope at the bottom of the monolith. In the case of Mount Augustus there is a scree slope so it lacks the distinctive shape of Uluru although it does change colour during the day. Mount Augustus also has considerable vegetation on its slopes.