The Merinjina Tillite was formed by glacier transportation of silts, sands, rocks and boulders which came to settle on the sea floor as the glacier melted, 643 -750 million years ago.
Merinjina Tillite: Stubbs Waterhole
Ripple rocks: Arkaroola
Ripple rocks seen throughout the Flinders Ranges are likely to have been formed in sandy shallow waters, rapidly covered in kilometres of sediments which resulted in rock formation through processes of heat and pressure. This example is part of the Blue Mine Conglomerate Formation, around 800 million years old.
Sand: Dunes west of Wilpena Pound
Sand from the red dunes in the plains to the west of Wilpena Pound, predominately hematite stained silica. Magnification 20x.
Sand: Yudnamutana
The hematite and magnetite rich magnetic sand of Yudnamutana.
Magnification 20x.
Sand: Strzelecki Track
20x magnification.
Immature lithic sand from silcrete deposit containing clear rounded quartz, jagged clear quartz, orange gypsum, calcium rich siltstone, chips of purple quartzite, goethite. Notable absence of silcrete as it highly resistant to weathering.
Sand: West of Copley
Lithic sand collected on a field trip to the hills west of Copley containing a small amount of clear quartz with fragments of assorted parent rocks – claystone, iron oxides, and coloured siltstones and sandstones.
Sands: Sliding Rock Area
Sliding Rock is the site of an old copper mine on the west side of Warraweena Conservation Park. The following 5 sand samples were taken in the area.
Old Copper Track
Lithic sand primarily composed from surrounding sedimentary rocks with some quartz crystals with hematite inclusions.
